The 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle has been shaken up. India’s series loss to New Zealand means that Pakistan’s WTC 2025 final qualification is still alive.
India were comfortably on top of the table, clear ahead of Australia on Points Percentage by a difference of almost 12 per cent. But India’s series loss to New Zealand, their first series loss since 2012 when they lost to England by 2-1, has given hope not just to Pakistan but Sri Lanka and South Africa as well.
With the table opened up for possibilities, we will look at how each team can now qualify for the 2023-25 World Test Championship Final.
Also Read: A look back at all of the Women’s T20WC Winners List
WTC 2025 final qualification: The Scenarios
India
India, the top-seeded team in the table, will now play New Zealand in the final Test match at home before travelling to Australia for a five-match Border-Gavaskar series.
Remaining matches:
- vs New Zealand – 1 Matches (H)
- vs Australia – 5 Matches (A)
Wins needed to qualify: 4 from 6
Australia
Australia, the current WTC champions, are now ranked second and must perform well to guarantee their spot in the final. Despite the difficult assignment, they are still ahead of the other teams in the standings.
Remaining matches:
- vs India – 5 matches (H)
- vs Sri Lanka – 2 Matches (A)
Wins needed to qualify: 4 from 7
Sri Lanka
Since Sri Lanka has four games left in the tournament, they must win three or more of their remaining games to advance to the final. They have one of the strong chances to qualify should India fail further and Sri Lanka strengthen their chances.
Remaining matches:
- vs South Africa – 2 Matches (A)
- vs Australia – 2 Matches (H)
Wins needed to qualify: 3 from 4
New Zealand
The only way they can guarantee a position in the final is to win each of the final’s four remaining games.
Remaining matches:
- vs India – 1 matches (A)
- vs England – 3 Matches (H)
Wins needed to qualify: 4 from 4
South Africa
They will need to win four of their remaining five games to have a chance at making the final.
Remaining matches:
- vs Bangladesh – 1 Match (A)
- vs Sri Lanka – 2 Matches (H)
- vs Pakistan – 2 Matches (H)
Wins needed to qualify: 4 from 5
WTC 2025 final qualification: What Pakistan needs to do?
In addition to relying on other outcomes to go their way, they need to win all four of their remaining games, which include two away games against South Africa and two at home against the West Indies.
Given that India is presently leading the table, the likely scenario for Pakistan to go to the final is for India to overtake the other four teams by winning enough games to put them behind them. Of course, Pakistan can help with this by defeating South Africa 2-0, but they have no control over the outcomes of the other teams.
Remaining matches:
- vs South Africa – 2 matches (A)
- vs West Indies – 2 Matches (H)
Wins needed to qualify: 4 from 4
Here’s what results should go apart from PAK’s games:
- IND 1-2 NZ
- BAN 0-2 SA
- AUS 2-3 IND
- NZ 2-1 ENG
- SA 1-0 SL
- SL 1-0 AUS
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