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New Zealand beat India by 26 runs in the third Test played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (November 3).
How can India qualify for WTC 2025 final after losing third Test against New Zealand. (Picture Credit: AP)
New Zealand beat India by 26 runs in the third Test played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (November 3). With the win in the third Test, Kiwis became the first side in history to whitewash India in a three-match Test series played in India. The defeat at Wankhede Stadium is a massive setback for the Indian team, as now their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final are on knife’s edge.
India has dropped to No. 2 position in the WTC 2023-25 points table. The Rohit Sharma-led side has 58.33 PCT%. 2023 WTC champions Australia, which last played a Test match in March 2024, is in top place with 62.50 PCT%. Sri Lanka is in third place with 55.56 PCT%, whereas New Zealand has moved to No. 4 position with 54.54 PCT%.
World Test Championship 2023-25 points table
| POSITION | TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | DRAW | PENALTY | POINTS | PCT% |
| 1 | Australia | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 90 | 62.50 |
| 2 | India | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 98 | 58.33 |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 55.56 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 54.54 |
| 5 | South Africa | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 52 | 54.17 |
| 6 | England | 19 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 93 | 40.79 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 40 | 33.33 |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 33 | 27.50 |
| 9 | West Indies | 9 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 18.52 |
To qualify for the third straight WTC final now, India will have to win four of the remaining five Tests against Australia.
India is set to travel to Australia for a five-match Test series next week. The 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is set to start on November 22 in Perth. India has won the last two editions of Border-Gavaskar in Australia, but this time India has to win four matches to be absolutely sure of a place in the WTC final.
India played in the 2021 and 2023 WTC finals as well, but on both occasions it ended up losing the match. In the 2021 final, New Zealand defeated India by 8 wickets in Southampton, whereas in 2023, the Aussies hammered India by 209 runs.
