After withstanding unfair and unethical assault on and off the field, India clinched the 4-Test series at the Gabba and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. With the victory, Team India also moved to the number 1 spot at the ICC World Test Championship rankings. But how can India seal their place in the league and qualify for the WTC finals? Let’s take a deep dive and find out.
ICC World Test Championship Points Table
The victory against Aussies has given India the highest PCT in the 9-team table. India is currently on top of the board with 71.7% PCT. Following Indians are the Kiwis with 70% PCT and right behind them is Team Australia with 69.2% PCT.
What is PCT and how is it calculated?
ICC Board decided to make the matches that were forced to cancel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, null and void, and determine the winner for the WTC league only through the matches played.
Under the new system, the PCT (percentage of points) is now determined by the percentage of the total number of points won by a team out of the number of points contested.
For instance, Team A faces another team in a 4-Test series. The series will always be allotted 120 points, no matter the number of Tests in the test.
So, for a 4-Test series, the points will be allotted as per: 30, 15 and 10 for the win, tie and draw respectively. So if Team A ends up winning a 4-match series with a 4-0 score, they would receive 120 points and 100% PCT for their efforts. Similarly, if Team A wins the series 2-0 with the other two Tests drawn, they would get 80 points and 66.6% PCT.
With that said, the World Test Championship is at an interesting place with India, Australia and New Zealand eying the spot at the finale. Let’s look at the qualification scenarios for the top 3 teams in the World Test Championship point table.
Qualification Scenarios For ICC World Test Championship Finals:
Team India
(As of 19 Jan 2021)
Current PCT: 71.7%
Current Points: 430
Series: 5
Matches Won: 9
Matches Lost: 3
Matches Drawn: 1
How can Team India qualify for WTC finals?
Thanks to India’s historic win over the Aussies in the fourth Test at Brisbane, the team has a contestable chance of making it to the WTC finals. To make their place into the final, team India will need to win by a 2-match margin in the 4-match Test series against England. If they lose one match, then they would have to win all three remaining games and not have a single game drawn. A 0-3 or 0-4 loss against Team England will be the end of the journey to the WTC cup final for India.
New Zealand
(As of 19 Jan 2021)
Current PCT: 70.0%
Current Points: 420
Series Played: 5
Matches Won: 7
Matches Lost: 4
Matches Drawn: 0
How can Team New Zealand qualify for WTC finals?
As New Zealand is done with their share of Test games to play, the equation for the Kiwis remain quite simple. The New Zealand team needs no other team to finish with more than 70% PCT earned by the end of the championship. If England wins all their remaining 5 matches and South Africa also goes on to win by a 2-0 or 2-0 margin against Aussies in the coming series, New Zealand would have to pack their bags go home disappointed.
Australia
(As of 19 Jan 2021)
Current PCT: 69.2%
Current Points: 332
Series Played: 4
Matches Won: 8
Matches Lost: 4
Matches Drawn: 2
How can Team Australia qualify for WTC finals?
Team Australia was overtaken by India after the men in blue defeated Aussies in the final Test match in the Border-Gavaskar series. The Australian team is at third place with 69.1% PCT. Now, if Australia wants to secure a position in the final, they would have to win at least two of the 3-match series against the South African team. Australian team can’t afford a defeat as well. If South Africa ends up winning the series, or the matches are drawn, Australia will not be able to reach the WTC finals.
