Mumbai Mumbai. India has retained the top position in the World Test Championship points table, but its points percentage (PCT) has declined after the 113-run defeat in the second Test against New Zealand on Saturday. India have to face defeat at home for the first time in 12 years. But faced defeat in the Test series, as New Zealand defeated the hosts by 113 runs in the second Test in Pune to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
It was India's fourth defeat in the current WTC cycle, seeing its PCT fall from 68.06 to 62.82. As a result, Rohit Sharma and his team are now just 0.32 points ahead of Australia (62.50), who are in second place. After the third Test against New Zealand next week, India will travel to Australia to play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which now has more India had earlier won 18 consecutive series and was a strong contender to win all the matches to make the finals in the WTC.
But, now, to qualify for their third consecutive WTC final without depending on external results, India will have to win four of their remaining six matches. Faced with a challenging target of 359 runs in the fourth innings, India batted at regular intervals. India captain Rohit Sharma, when asked about the WTC scenario in the post-match press conference, said, “I am sad because we lost the match.” “Can't think about what might happen and affect our chances. We didn't play well, we lost the series and it's sad. We need to do some things as a unit.”
India's defeat has thrown the race for the WTC final wide open, giving teams like Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand apart from Australia a strong chance of qualifying for the WTC25 final next year. The historic win against India gave the Black Caps Has moved up to fourth place, now with a PCT of 50, and is back in the running for a spot in the finals. Sri Lanka, which has a PCT of 55.56, is placed third, while a nine-wicket win against England in the third Test in Rawalpindi has helped Pakistan move up to seventh position with a PCT of 33.33. England, which has a PCT of 40.79, is ranked sixth.
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