How Pakistan’s loss helps India’s chances to reach WTC 2023 final?

Vaibhaw Tiwari December 12, 2022

1 27 1 minute read

Indian Test team — Image courtesy: @BCCI/twitter

The Pakistan cricket has suffered a huge blow to their planning of 2023 calendar. After losing two consecutive home tests against England, they have officially gone out of the race for the WTC 2023 final.

But does that mean that Indian team now has a clear road ahead for the same?

Not exactly. The Indian team has a huge chance of making it to the final. But it is not easy by any means. Although it does provide some clarity about how that can be done.

Here is a look at the current WTC 2023 table:

POS	Team	PCT (%)	PTS	Matches W L D	SER	PEN
1	Australia	75	108	8-1-3	4	0
2	South Africa	60	72	6-4-0	4	0
3	Sri Lanka	53.33	64	5-4-1	5	0
4	India	52.08	75	6-4-2	4	-5
5	England	44.44	112	9-8-4	6	-12
6	Pakistan	42.42	56	4-5-2	5	0
7	West Indies	40.91	54	4-5-2	5	-2
8	New Zealand	25.93	28	2-6-1	4	0
9	Bangladesh	13.33	16	1-8-1	5	0

How can India reach WTC 2023 final?

The roadmap for India’s journey to the final has two major roadblocks in its way. First of them being an away series against Bangladesh that starts from 14^th of December.

India will play two test matches with Bangladesh in this series. And in order to reach the WTC 2023 final, they will have to win at least one of them. But they also cannot afford to lose any.

It’s very clear, India is to play 6 more test matches in the build up to the WTC 2023 final. And for them to make it to the final, winning 5 out of the 6 games is necessary.

This means that they will be required to win both these tests and 3 out of 4 tests against Australia, whom they meet in January at home.

However, along with winning the games, they also have to ensure that they don’t lose any. As you must know, losing means that their winning percentage will take a hit. And that can hamper their chances of making it to the WTC 2023 final.