Delivering a Mission Impossible at Kanpur: Team India's March towards WTC Final 

Test Cricket had been on the death bed for quite some time. The connoisseurs and the genuine admirers of Cricket had been expressing deep anguish to see the pure format of the sport dying slowly and the Cricket administrators, in their greed for revenue, forget doing anything to resurrect it, were contributing to quicken it's death. When everything looked doom and gloom for test Cricket, three things happened. Global icons like Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Ken Williamson forced the world and the new generation of millions of their fans who were fast drifting away from the so called "long and boring format of test cricket" in favour of fast and furious T20 Cricket, to take interest in Test Cricket for the sake of their icons. Then for a change, the administrators and ICC had an unexpected change of heart as they decided to infuse some life into the true format of the sport by introducing a "World Test Championship" (WTC). The objective was to add seriousness to every bilateral test series and culminate a two year cycle of all the bilateral test series with a WTC final to decide a World Champion in Test Cricket, in the same manner as white ball cricket. The format, the rules, the points and ranking of teams with uneven and skewed quantity of games and opponents are hardly ideal and perfect. But surely, with all its flaws, it has managed to create  passion, dream and aspiration in every Test playing nation, both in terms of players and fans to commit to the most neglected and long forgotten format in their quest for World titles and the associated bragging rights as the best Cricketing Nation in the most authentic and pure form of the sport. The third factor that happened to save Test Cricket was an individual initiative. 2 years back, England took a routine decision of appointing Brendon McCullum as their Coach for Test Coach at a time when England, while excelling in White Ball Cricket was still languishing in the Test format and globally, Test Cricket was on an accelerated March towards its death due to losses incurred during COVID lockdown in the previous two seasons. While the jury may still be out today regarding how much of a long term revival McCullum era has brought for the English Test fortune, there is no dispute to the fact that it has revived not only English but also global interest in Test Cricket with the brand of high octane insanely attacking brand of Cricket being played by the England Batters. Sometimes, the strike rate of their batting is matching the strike rate from contemporary T20 cricket and draws are almost extinct from the outcomes of test matches. 

One may ask why we need to get into the three factors behind new found life in Test Cricket on the back of an Indian test victory against Bangladesh. Well, the answer to that question is simple. It is important to put the incredible Indian victory in the right context of the above three factors because to be brutally honest, once again, administrative apathy had almost done everything to undo the little initiatives like above towards revival of Test Cricket at the marco level and ruin the prospects of home team, that is India, in its quest for one more deserving WTC Final. We are not good in marketing and self glorifying our performances and achievements with some fancy coining of terminologies like "Bazball" that the English and the Aussies do (nothing wrong in that). But what Indian team did in the Green park ground  of Kanpur in the last 2 days of the 2nd test against Bangladesh was much more than what "Bazball" has done since it's inception. Losing nearly 235 overs of a test match partly due to rain and mostly because of pathetic ground maintenance and drainage system in a Stadium which is no longer the most modern and fit test ground in a country with atleast half a dozen grounds better suited and equipped to handle test matches during the  final stage of monsoon, under the watch of the richest board in the world was a devastating blow to the hope of resurrecting the sagging interest in Test Cricket and almost put an irreparable dent to India's hopes for yet another WTC final. When you are playing a home test match against a team like Bangladesh which is still basking in glory post it's historic 2-0 whitewash of Pakistan in Pakistan on a decent batting pitch and you have lost two and half days, there is no way you can extract the much needed win in order to earn the precious WTC points that could smoothen your journey to the final. But Rohit and his brave men had other ideas. Instead of giving up on a miracle and leaving it to outrage by the fans on Social Media against the administrators to earn some sympathy, they decided to rewrite the destiny of the dead test. They decided to play to win instead of playing the victim card and they pulled off the miracle. They won a test match in 173.2 overs against a good test team on a pitch that was still good enough to bat long enough to draw the game. The acts were no routine feat. The win was no ordinary win. The points earned have firmly consolidated India's position at the top of the WTC points table and made them top favourites for the 11th June final at Lords. 

The win against Bangladesh puts India at top of the WTC points table with 74.26 points followed by Australia at 62.5 and Sri Lanka at 55.56 points. England (42.19), South Africa (38.89), New Zealand (37.50), Bangladesh (34.38), Pakistan (19.05) and West Indies (18.52) complete the remaining slots in the points table. Now technically, all the teams except Pakistan and West Indies have a chance to make it to the final in 2025. But realistically speaking, the fight is between India, Australia and Sri Lanka and to a lesser extent South Africa for the two slots in the final. Now India is at the most convenient position needing just 3 wins out of its remaining 8 games in the current WTC cycle to qualify for the final. Break up of India's next 8 games is : 3 against New Zealand at home and 5 against Australia in Australia. What the dramatic win against Bangladesh has achieved for India is, now it can assure itself a slot in the WTC final by sweeping the 3 test series against the Kiwis at home.Then they won't bother about any test in the tough Border Gavaskar Trophy against the formidable Aussies in Australia. Considering the quality of Indian team, the available talent, the aura of invincibility they enjoy at home and the horrible decline in test fortunes of New Zealand in recent times and their meek surrender to the Sri Lankans on subcontinent pitches, India would really fancy their chances for a clean sweep of their home series against the Kiwis to seal the WTC Final spot. Australia, the second top favourite for the final, need 4 wins out of their remaining seven tests. They will be playing 2 of those tests against Sri Lanka and 5 against India. Considering Sri Lankan revival in test cricket and their traditionally formidable record at home, Australia may have a few jitters to earn enough points during the high pressure BGT series against India at home. They are well aware of the fact that they have lost the last 2 home series against India. Besides, the unexpected loss to West Indies in their last home test wouldn't be truly a confidence booster for them. But the Aussies are the reigning WTC Champions and they know everything about winning the games that matter. So they will continue to be the most likely opponents if India goes on to reach the final. Sri Lanka on the other hand need 3 wins out of their remaining 4 matches. Considering they will be playing 2 of those remaining 4 games against South Africa in South Africa, it looks to be an uphill task. But who knows, if they can win a game there and sweep the series against the mighty Aussies, they can make it an all Asian final. 

 South Africa too can make it to the final if they can win 5 out of their remaining 6 games, out of which 2 each will be against Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home and 2 will be against Bangladesh in Bangladesh. Considering the fact that the South Africans are formidable at home and are capable of whitewashing Sri Lanka and Pakistan, all they can aim for is a 1-0 series win against Bangladesh in the away series and that should help them get through to the final. Lastly, even the Kiwis can technically reach the final. But for that they need to win 6 out of their remaining 6 games, out of which 3 tests are against the mighty Indians in India. Cricket is a sport of glorious uncertainties and one shouldn't rule out any kind of miracles. But  winning a series against India 3-0 in India is a kind of miracle that doesn't seem possible today. 

So yes, the race to the final of WTC is still very much on and nothing is finalised or final yet. Atleast 4 teams are in the running for the two spots in the final. India is still yet to be assured of a spot and there is still some work to be done by the Indian team to make it to their third consecutive final. But the miraculous win by Rohit's boys against Bangladesh at Kanpur is a huge step towards that endeavour. Congratulations Team India and all the best for WTC Final.

By: Ambika Prasad Mahapatra

(DISCLAIMER: This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and have nothing to do with OTV’s charter or views. OTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)