Rohit Sharma-led India have taken a big step towards solidifying their spot in World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final with a massive win over Australia by an innings and 132 runs at Nagpur on February 11.
The big win has taken India's win percentage from 58.92 to 61.66 with ninth win from 15 matches in the ongoing cycle. The comprehensive loss did not dethrone Australia from the top but their win percentage went from 75.55 to 70.83.
Now, India need to win two out of three remaining Tests to reach the final of WTC for the second time. If India don’t win two Tests in the ongoing series, they will have to depend on results of other team’s clashes to qualify for the final.
If India complete a whitewash in the four-Test series, they will finish with 147 points and a win percentage of 67.43. With three wins, their win percentage will be 61.92, just ahead of Sri Lanka’s best possible outcome of 61.11 per cent.
On the other hand, there is also a chance that Australia fail to qualify for WTC final. If they lose all the Tests in Border-Gavaskar Trophy and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand in their upcoming series, Australia will slip to the third position.
Currently, Sri Lanka have a win percentage of 53.33 and it will be a uphill task for them to The last time Sri Lanka won a Test on New Zealand soil was in 2006. The Mahela Jayawardene-led side beat New Zealand by 217 runs at Wellington.
As Australia got all out for 91, their lowest Test total against India in 21st century, skipper Rohit was asked whether the Indian team is mentally tougher than the visitors.
"I don't know the mental status of the Australian team. I can vouch for our team and we are the ones who want to play on pitches like these and not just from now, we have been playing on pitches like these for last 3-4 years," the 35-year-old replied.
India will now take on Australia at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi starting February 17.
