WTC Point Table: After falling short in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final last year, losing it to Kane Williamson’s New Zealand, India, now led by Rohit Sharma, are eyeing the final of this edition of the WTC.
That is the main aim of Rohit, the Test skipper, who has started his Test captaincy with a comfortable 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka. However, Sharma asserted that India cannot look too far ahead and need to take one game at a time.
“The long-term target is to reach the final of the WTC. But honestly, we cannot look that far ahead as it does not work like that. We need to look into the present, make sure that there are fewer steps to climb to reach that place. For us, reaching those small goals are very important,” Rohit said after the series victory against Sri Lanka in Bangalore.
India is currently in the fourth position, having won 6, drawn 3, and lost 2 matches. They have a PCT (percentage of points won out of the percentage of points contested for) of 58.33.
Three teams are placed ahead of India in South Africa (placed third with PCT of 60.00), Pakistan (placed second with PCT of 66.66) and Australia (placed at the top with PCT of 77.77).
India lead the unfinished series in England by 2-1, and defeated New Zealand in a 2-Test series by 1-0, but lost to South Africa by 2-1, before thrashing Sri Lanka 2-0.
Sharma pointed out that losing two Tests in South Africa have dented their progress in the WTC final race. But believes that the team is “moving in the right direction” as they next tour England for a solitary Test to complete the series, before hosting Australia and then touring Bangladesh for their last series of this WTC cycle.
“Having lost the series in South Africa, it was critical for us to make an impact and get those crucial points for us. Hence, when it comes to the WTC table, there are a lot of points that we need to do right as a team. We pretty much achieved everything that we wanted as a team (from the Test series against Sri Lanka) and boxes got ticked. I think we are moving in the right direction,” Sharma added.
