World Test Championship (2021-23) Final: How did India qualify?

WTC Final India vs Australia
Image Credit – @BCCI (Twitter)

In the 1st edition of World Test Championship(2019-21), India lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets. Get the Scorecard here. While in the 2nd second edition of World Test Championship(2021-23), India paved its way to the Final that is going to be played against Aussies on 7-11 June at The Oval, London.

Let’s look at the journey of India over the span of 2 years starting from August, 2021 till June,2023 :-

1. India tour of England (2021, 22) (5 match series)

India’s campaign for the 2nd edition of WTC kicked off with the tour of England for 5 matches test series, which was played at different venues across Trent Bridge, Lord’s, Headingley, The Oval and Edgbaston. The 5 match Test Series was draw with 2-2.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
04 Aug – 08 Aug, 2021
04:30pm IST | 11:00am GMT
Trent Bridge Cricket Ground, Nottingham1st Test
Match drawn
12 Aug – 16 Aug, 2021
04:30pm IST | 11:00am GMT
Lord’s, London2nd Test
India won by 151 runs
25 Aug – 29 Aug, 2021
04:30pm IST | 11:00am GMT
Headingley, Leeds3rd Test
England won by an Innings & 76 runs
02 Sep – 06 Sep, 2021
04:30pm IST | 11:00am GMT
Kennington Oval, London4th Test
India won by 157 runs
01 Jul – 05 Jul, 2022
04:00pm IST | 10:30am GMT
Edgbaston, Birmingham5th Test
England won by 7 wickets

2. New Zealand tour of India (2021) (2 match series)

India, this time, looked to avenge for the WTC final defeat and they didn’t disappoint the Indian supporters by winning the 2 match Test series by 1-0 and strengthening their position in WTC Points Table.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
25 Nov – 29 Nov, 2021
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Green Park, Kanpur1st Test
Match drawn
03 Dec – 07 Dec, 2021
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai2nd Test
India won by 372 runs

3. India tour of South Africa (2021-22) (3 match series)

Unfortunately, India could not win the 3 match Test Series against South Africa and lost the series by 1-2.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
26 Dec – 30 Dec, 2021
01:30pm IST | 08:00am GMT
SuperSport Park, Centurion1st Test
India won by 372 runs
03 Jan – 07 Jan, 2022
01:30pm IST | 08:00am GMT
The Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg2nd Test
South Africa won by 7 wickets
11 Jan – 15 Jan, 2022
01:30pm IST | 08:00am GMT
Newlands, Cape Town3rd Test
South Africa won by 7 wickets

4. Sri Lanka tour of India (2022) (2 match Series)

India dominated Sri Lanka throughout the series giving them no room for improvement and as a result ended up winning the series by 2-0 with huge margins by runs.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
04 Mar – 08 Mar, 2022
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali1st Test
India won by an Innings & 222 runs
12 Mar – 16 Mar, 2022
02:00pm IST | 08:30am GMT
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru2nd Test
India won by 238 runs

5. India tour of Bangladesh (2022) (2 match Series)

India always looked comfortable in the series as the host were not able to put visitors in tough conditions leading India to win 2 match series easily by 2-0.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
14 Dec – 18 Dec, 2022
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram1st Test
India won by 188 runs
22 Dec – 26 Dec, 2022
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka2nd Test
India won by 3 wickets

6. Australia tour of India (2023) (4 match Series)

One of the factors for India to qualify for World Test Championship Final was to win this series by 3-0. At the same time, Sri Lanka had to win 2 match series against New Zealand by 2-0 to make its way to the Final.

Luckily, Sri Lanka lost its 1st test against NZ in a nail-biting finish on the very last ball as they couldn’t save 1 run. Hence, the winning of NZ paved India’s path to the Final even when the test series ended up as 2-1 for India against Australia.

Date & TimeVenueMatch Results
09 Feb – 13 Feb, 2023
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur1st Test
India won by an Innings & 32 runs
17 Feb – 21 Feb, 2023
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi2nd Test
India won by 6 wickets
01 Mar – 05 Mar, 2023
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Holkar Stadium, Indore3rd Test
Australia won by 9 wickets
09 Mar – 13 Mar, 2023
09:30am IST | 04:00am GMT
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad4th Test
Match Drawn

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