India suffered a 0-2 defeat against South Africa in a two-match Test series at home. The loss has now put a massive impact on Team India’s chances of making it through to the World Test Championship (WTC) final as the side has slipped down to number five with 52 points in their kitty at 48.15%.
The Shubman Gill-led side has to put up a near perfect show in their next red-ball assignments. India will play a couple of Tests against Sri Lanka in August 2026 away from home and will then travel to New Zealand for a two-match series in October-November 2026. This will be followed by a five-Test series against Australia at home.
The Kiwis are yet to play a series while Sri Lanka and Pakistan have just played one each. England, on the other side, are featuring in their second assignment. The Aussies (100%) and the Proteas (75%) have put up a dominant show so far, pushing India on the backfoot.
Though, the previous cycles have seen teams needing 60-65% to qualify, India made it through at 58/8% in 2023 while Australia concluded the cycle at number two at 67.54% in the last cycle. As India sit on 52 points at halfway mark, they need 78 more to reach the 60% mark in the remaining nine matches. A team that wins the match is awarded 12 points while a draw adds 4 points which means the Indian team can’t really afford any losses and the defeats will increase their dependency on the results of other teams.
India haven’t had a great run in New Zealand as their last Test series win in New Zealand came in 2009 under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Since then, the team has struggled to get any success. In fact, Team India lost both the matches in their last tour in 2020 under Virat Kohli’s leadership.
As things stand, Australia look in firm control to go through while South Africa too have a massive chance after their stunning performance in India.
The disappointing show in the early stages of WTC cycle have put India in a critical situation and will now need to push the paddle in the next fixtures.
Also Read: “Sorry We Couldn’t…”: Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant React After South Africa Series Loss
