London: Persistent and determined India prevailed in a thrilling fifth Test match of the series against England to draw level 2-2 at the Oval on Monday (August 4) to walk out of the assignment with 28 points in the World Test Championship (WTC). India needed four wickets and England, 35 runs.
With a pure batter in Jamie Smith in the middle and having taken the heavy roller, England would have fancied their chance to knock those 35 runs off, but under overcast skies, with the ball moving all over the place and two bowlers with their tails up, the hosts fell short by just six runs.
India earned 12 points from the match and jumped to No.3 on the WTC points table, with a points percentage (PCT) of 46.67. This was the first assignment in the new WTC cycle for both teams, and after not making the final in the previous cycle, the two-time finalists with a young team have started well and would want to get on a run in the remaining assignments of the two-year cycle.
Now, how realistic do India’s chances look? After a 2-2 draw, quite possible!
India are playing 18 matches in the 2025-27 cycle, and to be sure of a qualification, without depending upon other results, the team would have to win at least 11 matches, if not more. India has won a couple of games in England already and drew one in Manchester, with five matches out of the picture. Now, out of the remaining 13 matches, India will have to win at least nine matches or eight wins and a draw would also do.
11 wins and a draw (already secured) would mean 136 points for India out of 216 played, which would give a PCT of 62.96 for the visitors. A PCT of anything above 60 should be good enough for a team to qualify for the final. In the 2023-25 cycle, South Africa (69.44) and Australia (67.54) were the only two teams with a PCT over 60 and played the final at Lord’s in the second week of June.
India are scheduled to play four two-match series from October 2025 to January 2027, before taking on the mighty Australians in a home series in February-March 2027. India will host the West Indies and South Africa for two-match series each in October and November, respectively, later this year. After which, India are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the second half of next year for two games each to wind up their overseas assignments of the cycle.
