India Qualifies For The WTC Finals
India has qualified for the World Test Championship 2021–23 final, where they will face Australia for the trophy at The Oval in London starting on June 7, after to New Zealand's stunning victory against Sri Lanka in Christchurch on Sunday. India has now advanced to consecutive WTC finals after reaching the summit match in the previous cycle, where they lost to New Zealand.
India and Sri Lanka were in a two-horse race for the one open slot in the World Cup when they entered their final Test of the calendar, against Australia in Ahmedabad. The qualification scenario was a little complicated for Sri Lanka because they needed India to lose or draw in Ahmedabad in addition to winning both of their Test matches in New Zealand. The sort of start India made and their own domination in the first few days in Christchurch would have raised their aspirations, but the goal of making the final was dashed on a rain-hit Day 5 and a last-ball loss.
India's journey in this second cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) started with the Test series in England in August–September 2021 under the Kohli–Shastri administration, where they won both of their games in London and took a 2-1 series lead before the coronavirus pandemic caused an indefinite postponement of the fifth test. The following time they used the format, a two-match home series against New Zealand, Rahul Dravid had advanced to fill Ravi Shastri's position. After a tie in Kanpur, India took the series with a victory in Mumbai.
The tour of South Africa followed. KL Rahul's first-innings century and an effective bowling effort gave India a 1-0 lead in Centurion, but things haven't gone well for them since. South Africa was able to tie the series in Johannesburg thanks to India's lacklustre batting, and after a contentious third day in Cape Town, Dean Elgar's team won the match and the series, ending Virat Kohli's ambitions of adding South Africa to his resume of foreign victories.
Rohit Sharma led his maiden Test match as the official Test captain during India's home series against Sri Lanka in March. In the first innings of the first test, when Ravindra Jadeja scored 175 and took a wicket, he led the team to a pretty easy and convincing 2-0 series victory. In the second test, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer shone. India returned to England in July to play the fifth Test that had been postponed with the goal of winning the away series handily. The fourth inning saw England pull off a huge chase, highlighted by centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, but it was not to be.
India won 2-0 in Bangladesh to put an end to the 2022 season. India won by 188 runs thanks to Shubman Gill's first-ever Test century and Kuldeep Yadav's eight wickets in the two innings. Mehidy Hasan, who led the series in wickets, gave Bangladesh a chance to tie the series in the second game, but they painfully missed. India was reduced to 74 for 7, needing just 145 to win. To clinch the series sweep, Shreyas Iyer and R Ashwin thereafter put an end to Bangladesh's aspirations of a last-minute robbery.
India has its sights set on reaching the WTC championship game when 2023 got under way. With victories over Australia in Nagpur and Delhi, where the tourists were destroyed by spin, they made significant progress in that direction. In contrast, India paid the price for their poor batting in Indore as Steve Smith's Australia struck back in Pat Cummins' absence.
Australia compiled a sizable first innings score, keeping Sri Lanka in the game, while the hosts also got off to a rocky start in the fourth Test. Nevertheless, that was only true up until the final day in Christchurch was essentially lost to rain, at which point New Zealand successfully chased down their target on the penultimate ball, ensuring India's qualification.
