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Rohit Sharma's brigade secured a thumping six-wicket win over Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday (February 19). Yet again India summed up the match within three days to take a 2-0 lead in the four-match Test series. Indian bowlers looked in hurry on Day 3 as they snared nine of the Australian wickets inside the first session of the day as the visitors were bundled out for 113, thanks to Ravindra Jadeja's wizardry of 7/42. India then overhauled the lowly target with six wickets in hand as Cheteshwar Pujara, who was playing his 100th Test smashed the winning runs.
Riding on the back-to-back victories in the first and the second Test India have inched closer to the top spot in the ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 table. India, who recorded their 100th victory over Australia across formats in international men's cricket, improved to 64.06 from 61.66 in WTC points percentage. On the other hand, Australia, who are currently the table toppers of WTC standings, slumped to 66.66 from 70.83 in the WTC points percentage. Notably, out of 16 matches in the 2021-23 WTC cycle, India have won a total of 10 matches.
There is also a possibility that India, who are riding on a winning streak, can play a spoilsport in Australia's chances of qualifying to the WTC final. If India manage to thrash Australia 3-0 or 4-0 in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series, they will rocket to top of the WTC table which will leave the Kangaroos and Sri Lanka tussling with each other for the second position.
Meanwhile, if Australia fail to eke out a draw or a win in the remainder of the two Tests, it will pave the way for for Sri Lanka (53.33) to qualify for the final, provided it beats New Zealand 2-0 in its upcoming series. To elaborate further, in case India clean sweeps Australia by 4-0, Sri Lanka will also have to register a dominant series win against the Blackcaps. If they win with a scoreline of 2-0, Sri Lanka’s win percentage will jump up to 61 while Australia’s tally will decline to 60. Such a scenario will result in India climbing up to the top position while Sri Lanka progresses to the second spot and qualifies for the WTC final. Australia will slide down to third and so it will be very important for the visitors to avoid getting steamrolled at the hands of their opponents.
Meanwhile, recently ICC revealed the WTC 2021-2023 final date as the marquee clash will be played at the Oval from June 7. Meanwhile, the ICC has also kept a reserve day in place, i.e. June 12. This Ultimate Test is the culmination of two years of intense competition in the ICC World Test Championship, spanning 61 Test matches over 24 series played to date.
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