India have consolidated their second spot in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 standing following their five-wicket win against England in the fourth Test on Monday. (Match Report | Scorecard | Day 4 Blog)
Chasing a tricky target of 192 runs on a fast-deteriorating Ranchi pitch, India survived a mini-collapse, courtesy an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 72 between Subhman Gill (52 off 124) and eventual Player of the Match Dhruv Jurel (39 off 77).
The win helped the Rohit Sharma-led side take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-Test series. The series finale in Dharamsala from March 7 to 11; post that, most players will swap whites for colour clothing and form new alliances to play in the Indian Premier League, starting March 22.
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New Zealand, despite having played only four Tests so far, continue to lead the WTC standing with 75 percentage points. India's point percentage, meanwhile, has jumped from 59.52 to 64.58 following the win, further extending the gap with Australia (55%) and Bangladesh (50%), third and fourth-placed teams, respectively. England, meanwhile, are languishing at eighth with 19.44%, just a spot ahead of bottom-placed Sri Lanka, who are yet to open their account.
India have played eight Tests in the current WTC cycle, winning five, losing two and drawing one match. England's 'Bazball' approach doesn't seem to have given them rich dividends with the Ben Stokes-led team having won just three matches and lost five. There was one draw.
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A total of 12 points are awarded for a win, six for a tie and four for a draw. Teams are ranked according to the percentage of points. The top two teams will progress to the final at Lord's in 2025.
India had reached the WTC final both times since the format was launched -- losing to New Zealand in the inaugural edition, and to Australia in the second edition.
(With PTI inputs)
