 "India's path to WTC Final: How close are they to Lord's after Bangladesh series win?")
India moved closer to the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second Test at Kanpur on Tuesday. India thus completed a 2-0 series sweep over Bangladesh despite rain threatening a draw in Kanpur. Over two days of play were lost in Kanpur due to rain but once put into bat after Bangladesh were bowled out for 233 in the first innings, the hosts scored 285 in just 34.4 overs before declaring the innings with one wicket in hand and with a 52-run lead.
Indian bowlers had a brilliant second essay once again as Bangladesh were bowled out for just 146 and the 95-run chase was completed in 17.2 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring his second half-century of the match.
The latest win means India continue to lead the WTC 2023-25 standing with eight wins from 11 matches, 98 points and 74.24 percent of points.
WTC 2023-25 points table:
| Position | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Draw | Point deductions | Points | Points percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 98 | 74.24 |
| 2 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 90 | 62.50 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 55.56 |
| 4 | England | 16 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 19 | 81 | 42.19 |
| 5 | Bangladesh | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 39.29 |
| 6 | South Africa | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 38.89 |
| 7 | New Zealand | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 37.50 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 19.05 |
| 9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 18.52 |
Team India now has eight more matches to go in the ongoing WTC cycle. Three against New Zealand at home with the first Test starting on 16 October at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and five against Australia Down Under.
How can India qualify for WTC final 2025?
India now need to win just three more Tests out of the remaining eight to qualify for the WTC 2025 final which means if Rohit Sharma and Co manage to thump New Zealand 3-0 at home then they would leave for Australia having already qualified for the WTC final 2025.
If that does not happen then India will be forced to look for victories in Australia which will only spice up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
India won their last two Test tours to Australia, in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
Australia are second in the WTC standings with eight wins from 12 matches, 90 points, and 62.50 points percentage.
India have played in both the WTC Finals so far, in 2021 and 2023, but lost on both occasions with New Zealand and Australia winning respectively.
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