WTC: Now even the Test format has a World Cup tournament just like the other two forms of the game. The fifty-over format has two ICC events like the ODI World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy while the shortest format has just one World event, the T20 World Cup and now the red ball format also has an ICC event called the World Test Championship (WTC).
India is the only team that reached two back-to-back finals of the WTC, but they couldn’t win even a single final of this ICC Test championship. Under Virat Kohli, the Men in Blue lost the finals in 2021 to New Zealand and in Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, India lost the World Test Championship finals last year in 2023 and India even lost the ODI World Cup final last year against the same opposition, Australia.
However in the current cycle again, the Indian Team is ranked one on the points table of the WTC. They have not lost a series of the red ball format. In the tougher and challenging conditions of South Africa, under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, the Men in Blue drew the two-match series to one all and that was just the second time that India has achieved the feat of squaring the red ball series in the Proteas Nation.
India is favourites to win the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand. But their real test will come versus the current WTC holders, Australia. India will tour the Aussie Nation and play a series of five red-ball matches. The Blues have won two back-to-back series Down Under. But winning their third consecutive series in Australia will be a huge challenge for Rohit and Co.
Since March India hasn’t played any red ball games. Their last Test Series was versus England at home, which they won by a margin of 4-1. Under HITMAN’s captaincy, the Men in Blue will start playing the traditional red ball matches when the Bangla Tigers will tour India later this year of 2024 for two two-match red ball series.
So today, we shall mention two top performers of India in the current WTC cycle of 2023 to 2025 –
Yashasvi Jaiswal – The young Indian opener, Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored the most runs for India in the current cycle of WTC 2023 to 2025. Yashasvi was included in the red ball format team after India’s loss in the 2023 final of this Test match event against Australia. He made his debut versus the West Indies in the Caribbean and even scored a century on his first-ever Test outing for India.
Jaiswal also scored back-to-back double centuries in this cycle of the World Test Championship and he has been ranked one in the overall list of the highest run-getters. Till now, the Indian opener has played nine matches and 16 innings. In those matches and innings, Yashasvi has scored 1028 runs with an average of 68.53 and a strike rate of 70.07. Jaiswal also has scored 3 centuries, four fifties and two double tons. His best score is 214* which came versus England.
2. Ravichandran Ashwin – India’s ace spin bowling, Ravi Ashwin has the most scalps in this cycle of WTC from 2023 to 2025. Ash will again be an important member of the Indian team in the series versus the Aussies Down Under. He has picked up 42 wickets from eight matches and 15 innings with an average of 21.69, an economy rate of 3.43 and a strike rate of 37.92. Ashwin’s best match figures are seven wickets for 71 runs and he has also picked up one four fer and 4 five-wicket hauls in this cycle so far.
Also Read: India’s Schedule: 3 Test Match Series Are In Line For The Men In Blue
