WTC Finals: After being penalized by the International Cricket Council Board for a slow over-rate in the fifth reschedule match against England, India needs to get into a serious job to continue its top position in World Test Rankings.
In order to reach the finals of the World Test Championship, India had to be compulsory in all upcoming test matches.
This situation emerged after ICC Elite Panel Match Referee David Boon imposed the sanction based on the on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Richard Kettleborough, third umpire Marais Erasmus and fourth umpire Alex Wharf leveled the charge.
According to ICC, India was ruled to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
“The penalty means India drop below Pakistan to the fourth spot in the ICC World Test Championship standings. After the penalty, India is on 75 points (point percentage of 52.08), just a shade below Pakistan’s PCT of 52.38 percent”, it said.
Considering India captain Jasprit Bumrah accepting the proposed sanction, the need for any formal hearing on this issue seemingly doesn’t make any allowance.
During the fifth rescheduled match against England, the visitors couldn’t meet the requirements of the game on the last two days of the test match. It was England that showcased a tremendous strength in the fourth innings with an all-rounder performance.
As and when the time was demanding to show some best tactics in order to curtail the visitors, the English team ensured an all-out performance. After five-match tests series against England, India acquires the fourth position in the ICC Test Championships 2021-23 Points Table.
With 52.08 percentage points, it had registered 6 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws in four series in the ongoing WTC cycle. It has 75 points, including a penalty of 5 points.
Ways to quality for WTC final?
India is now forced to win all of its remaining test matches to qualify for the World Test Championships 2021-23 Final. Despite this hurdle, the team has some positive aspects to consider. India has got two more Test series to play according to WTC Cycle and these matches are scheduled to be held at home.
It will play two Tests against Bangladesh and host Australia for 4-Tests. In order to show some good improvement, the Indian players had to win all the remaining six games. Even one single draw can show some adverse impact with chances of making it to the finals becoming harder.
