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Australia are the first team to qualify for the WTC 2021-23 final after they defeated India in the third test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Steve Smith won his 21st test as the captain of Australia as they thrashed the home team by 9 wickets in Indore. Now after this loss, Rohit Sharma and the company will have to make sure they beat the Aussies in the next test at Ahmedabad to qualify for the final of the WTC 2021-23.
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Below are the conditions on how India can qualify for the WTC 2021-23 Final
#1. India beat Australia in the fourth test at Ahmedabad
To qualify for the World Test Championship final, India must win the next test against Australia. After their 3rd loss in the last 46 home tests, it will be interesting to see who they team up against a more confident Australia. Pat Cummins might be back for the fourth test and Australia will look more compact with their batting doing better at the moment.
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On the other hand, for India, the concern in the batting line will give a few sleepless nights to Rohit Sharma. They had brought in Shubman Gill in the third test in the place of KL Rahul. But, Gill failed as well. Virat Kohli's form is a sign of concern too. Meanwhile, if you rule out Pujara's excellent fifty in the second inning of the third test, other batters except Axar Patel have not done anything remarkable in the middle order in the test series.
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They will surely have to play Aussie spinners better if they want to board that flight to England to play the final of the World Test Championship for the second time in a row.
#2 Sri Lanka fail to whitewash New Zealand
Even if India do not manage to win against Australia in the next test, they can still qualify for the final if New Zealand win any of their two tests against Sri Lanka. The first test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka will start on the same date as the fourth test between India and Australia. That will be a huge test at Hagley Oval, Christchurch starting on 9th March.
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New Zealand managed to win a historic test against England to draw the last series. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka is yet to play any test in 2023 and their last test was on 24 Jul 2022 at Galle against Pakistan which they won by 246 runs.
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If India lose or draw against Australia in the fourth test and Sri Lanka manage to whitewash New Zealand by 2-0, they will play the WTC 202-23 final against Australia at the Oval in London from 7-11 June.
Read Also: Most test wins by a team since 2015
WTC 2021-23 Points table
| POS | TEAM | PCT (%) | PTS | W L D | SER | PEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AUSTRALIA | 68.52 | 148 | 11 3 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | INDIA | 60.29 | 123 | 10 5 2 | 6 | -5 |
| 3 | SRI LANKA | 53.33 | 64 | 5 4 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | SOUTH AFRICA | 52.38 | 88 | 7 6 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 | ENGLAND | 46.97 | 124 | 10 8 4 | 6 | -12 |
| 6 | PAKISTAN | 38.1 | 64 | 4 6 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | WEST INDIES | 37.5 | 54 | 4 6 2 | 6 | -2 |
| 8 | NEW ZEALAND | 27.27 | 36 | 2 6 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 9 | BANGLADESH | 11.11 | 16 | 1 10 1 | 6 | 0 |
PCT (%): Percentage; L: Number of matches lost; SER: Number of series played; PTS: Number of points awarded; D: Number of matches drawn; PEN: Number of penalty overs; W: Number of matches won