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They had slipped to fifth place after the defeat in Hyderabad, but are now firmly back at the top.
ESPNcricinfo Staff
How important is this series win for India?
Sanjay Manjrekar looks back at India’s 4-1 victory led by an inexperienced batting line-up
India defeated England in Dharamsala, winning the fifth consecutive match 4-1 and extending their lead at the top of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) points table. They will remain in first place regardless of the result of the Christchurch Test between New Zealand and Australia, who are second and third respectively in the points table.
The 4-1 series win also means that India will overtake Australia at the top of the ICC Test rankings, meaning that even if Australia defeats New Zealand in Christchurch, India will remain at number one. India are currently in the top ranks in ODIs and T20Is as well.
India lost the first Test of the series against England in Hyderabad and slipped to fifth place in the WTC points table, but won their next three matches and moved up to first place. With the innings victory in Dharamsala, they have now scored 74 out of 108 points from nine matches (6 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw) in the ongoing WTC cycle, increasing their scoring percentage to 68.51%.
According to the WTC points system, teams earn 12 points for a test win, 6 points for a draw, 4 points for a tie and nothing for a loss. Also, each team plays a different number of Tests in the WTC cycle, so they are ranked according to the percentage of points earned.
Slow overrate penalties are also deducted from points, so England only have 21 points this WTC cycle despite winning three Tests. They lost 19 points due to late overrate penalties and he is in 8th place with just 17.5 percentage points after playing 10 Tests.
Currently, New Zealand is in second place with 60% points and Australia is in third place with 59.09%. If New Zealand wins the ongoing Christchurch Test, their percentage points will increase to 66.67%. If Australia wins, it will surpass New Zealand with 62.5%. With only a Test series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka remaining before the IPL season begins on March 22, India will likely remain at number one for several months.
Bangladesh currently sit fourth in the WTC points table but have only played one series in the ongoing series, followed by Pakistan, West Indies, South Africa, England and Sri Lanka.
The top two teams at the end of the WTC cycle will play the final at Lord’s in June 2025. India had previously qualified for both the previous WTC finals, losing to New Zealand in 2021 and Australia in 2023.
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