On Tuesday Australia beat England comprehensively to take the unassailable lead of 3-0 to retain the Ashes. On the third morning of the third test, Australia bowled England out for 68 runs to finish the game inside 7 sessions. In the meantime, they also consolidated their position in the World Test Championship points table.
In WTC 2021, Australia missed out on the final with the slightest of margin to New Zealand. The kiwis eventually won the title as they beat the table-toppers India in the final at Southampton.
Australia on ?
Here's how the #WTC23 table is taking shape after the third #Ashes Test in Melbourne ? pic.twitter.com/Nc2RcwluJz
— ICC (@ICC) December 28, 2021
Current Standing of WTC 2023:
Currently, Australia and Sri Lanka are at the top of the table as they won all their games. Sri Lanka beat West Indies in both tests at home while the Ashes is the first series for Pat Cummins & Co. in the WTC 2021-23 cycle. On the other side, England has been quite miserable in this cycle as they won just one game out of 6 games. Pakistan currently stands at no.3 with 3 wins and one loss.
In this cycle, Pakistan is among the favourites to reach the finals as they don’t have any away tours against higher-ranked sides. Pakistan had only one tour left in this cycle as they are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka while Babar Azam & Co. will host Australia, England, and New Zealand in this cycle.
On the side, Australia got a tough draw as far as away tours are concerned as they will travel India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan in this cycle. Australia hasn’t won a Test series in Asia since 2011. In the past 10 years, they could manage to win only two matches out of 17 so it’s going to be an uphill task for Australia if they manage to overcome this Asia challenge.
Roadmap for India:
India’s roadmap will be pretty much clear after South Africa however they also have to complete their England in the next summer. Notable that the series between India and England was cut short because of Covid-19 as India was leading the series by 2-1. The remaining 5th Test will be played in the next year.
India’s remaining home series will be against Sri Lanka (2 Tests) and Australia (4 Tests) and their other away tour will be against Bangladesh where India will play two tests.
In the WTC points, each Test win gives a side 12 points while 4 points are awarded for a draw and 6 points each in case of a tie.
Also, read Ashes 2021-22: Ricky Ponting Criticised England’s Team Selection Following 3-0 Drubbing