Outstanding performances all around helped India beat England in Rajkot on Sunday, February 18, 2024. The Men in Blue sealed their biggest-ever Test win at home, 434 runs separating them from their opponents, and took the lead in a five-game series, which they will look to secure with a similar result in Ranchi next. (More Cricket News)
Furthermore, the triumph helped India move up to second in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 table, behind only New Zealand, whom they will meet in the final should the charts stay the same until the end of the current cycle.
India have reached the final both times in the two bygone editions of the World Test Championship, albeit they are yet to win their maiden title. The Men in Blue lost to New Zealand at Rose Bowl, Southampton, in 2021 by eight wickets; two years later, they were defeated by Australia at the Oval in London by 209 runs.
The 2023-25 will be decided in June 2025 at Lord's in London.
Back in the present day, India have enjoyed success of late, beating England in successive Test matches in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot after the visitors took the first game in Hyderabad. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the star of the show for the hosts; the youngster has scored successive double tons and is the leading scorer in the competition.
ICC World Test Championship 2023-24, Table (as of February 19, 2024)
Pos | Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Drawn | NR | Points | PCT |
1 | New Zealand | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 75 |
2 | India | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 50 | 59.52 |
3 | Australia | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 66 | 55 |
4 | Bangladesh | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 50 |
5 | Pakistan | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 36.66 |
6 | West Indies | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 33.33 |
7 | South Africa | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 25 |
8 | England | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 21.88 |
9 | Sri Lanka | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |