IND BAN Test Record: India yet to lose a TEST to Bangladesh, need win in both matches to keep hopes of entering WTC FINAL alive: Follow India vs Bangladesh TEST Series

IND BAN Test Record: With the ODI leg out of the way, the focus now shifts to cricket’s original format, Test cricket. India and Bangladesh are set to lock horns for 2-Test-series. The first match will be played in Chattogram on Wednesday, December 14. For the record, India has never lost a Test match to Bangladesh, both home and away. However, this series is extremely crucial for KL Rahul’s India. The visitors need to win the series 2-0 to keep their hopes of making it to the World Test Championship Final next year in June alive. Follow India vs Bangladesh LIVE updates on Insidesport.IN

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IND BAN Test Record: India yet to lose a TEST to Bangladesh, need win in both matches to keep hopes of entering WORLD Test Championship FINAL alive: Follow India vs Bangladesh TEST Series

We will talk about the World Test Championship scenarios in a bit, but let’s focus on the job in hand for Team India. One thing is crystal clear, that India cannot even afford a single draw against Bangladesh.

The good news is that India, on the expected lines, has an excellent record against Bangladesh in Tests, be it home or away.

In 11 Tests overall between the two countries since 2000, India has won 9 of them. Bangladesh is still searching for their maiden Test victory over India, but has managed to draw a couple of matches.

The bright spot for Bangladesh is that they are playing at home, where they have managed to draw two matches in the past. Given their recent ODI series win over India, the Tigers are expected to be high on confidence, and will look to spoil India’s road to World Test Championship Final 2023.

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ICC World Test Championship 2023: Way ahead for Team India

The World Test Championship Final is six months away and India are still some way off confirming their place. Last edition’s finalists are currently third with six games to set up a summit clash at the Oval starting on June 4.

India in World Test Championship 2021-23

India have six Tests left in their current cycle and are fourth in the standings.
To reach the WTC Final in June, India need to win all six.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul leads the side against Bangladesh.
Australia, South Africa and SriLanka remain in contention.

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An Injury-struck India will hope to keep their chances of making the World test championship finals alive in Bangladesh. The Indian team led by KL Rahul, will need to blank the hosts 2-0 to put themselves in command in the points table. Currently, India are fourth in the WTC standings with a PCT of 52.08, behind SriLanka. Australia and SouthAfrica are someway ahead at 72.72 and 60.

World Test Championship Standings

Pos.	Team	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Points	PCT
1	Australia	11	8	1	3	108	75
2	South Africa	10	6	4	0	72	60
3	Sri Lanka	10	5	4	1	64	53.33
4	India	12	6	4	2	75	52.08
5	Pakistan	10	4	4	2	56	46.66
6	West Indies	10	4	4	2	54	45
7	England	20	8	8	4	88	41.66
8	New Zealand	9	2	6	1	28	25.93
9	Bangladesh	10	1	8	1	16	13.33

For Australia:

After the massive win over West Indies in Adelaide, Australia has now strengthened its position in the WTC points table. The Baggy Greens sit pretty at the top with 8 wins and one loss. They have 108 points and 75 PCT. They are followed by South Africa, Sri Lanka and India. Australia host South Africa next for the 2-Test-series at home. They are the prime favourites to go through the WTC final. If Australia win, they will confirm their place in the final.

Australia’s biggest challenge will be the four-match away tour of India.
If Australia wins all four home Tests but lose all four in India, their win percentage will drop to 63.16.
In such a scenario, India can leapfrog Australia by winning all six of their remaining Tests.
Australia should try to win six of the upcoming matches. It will take their win percentage to 68.42.

For South Africa: If SA win the series down under, they will topple Pat Cummins & Co for the top spot.

How can India reach WTC Finals?

Despite current 4th-place standing, India’s fate is not completely in their hands.
Team India’s next Test assignment is against Bangladesh.
A 2-0 win will help Rohit Sharma & Co reach 52% points.
The most important series will against Australia.
India host current leaders Australia in a four-match series.
A 4-0 or 3-0 win could take India to 2nd spot provided England win in Pakistan.
India will also have to depend on NewZealand winning against SriLanka in their 2-match series.
If they win all of their next six matches, their win percentage will jump to 68.06.

What does Australia’s commanding victory over the West Indies do for the teams chasing a spot at next year’s World Test Championship final?#WTC23 https://t.co/wjqtqL0r92

— ICC (@ICC) December 11, 2022

Bangladesh on the other hand are languishing right at the bottom of the points table. The Bangla Tigers have lost eight matches and won only one. As a result, they are out of contention to reach the finals of WTC.

So, the bottom line is that India cannot afford any more slip-ups with at least five wins and draw mandatory for them to leapfrog Sri Lanka and South Africa.

However, what plays in India’s favour is the remaining calendar in the cycle. While Australia look certain to qualify, they have eight tests remaining. Those include three against SouthAfrica and four against India away from home. Pat Cummins and Co need to avoid defeat in five of their remaining eight games, to make the WTC Final. Four wins are absolutely mandatory for them.

A lot is riding on the Australia vs South Africa series next year. The table and scenarios could swing wildly with each Test. For their part, the Proteas need at least three wins in their remaining five games to keep India on their toes. SriLanka while ahead of India, have only Tests reaming. The maximum PCT they could haul is 61.9, which is gettable for both India and South Africa.

India Test Squad: KL Rahul (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara (VC), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Navdeep Saini, Saurabh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat