India head towards their next two Tests against the team leading the World Test Championship standings. New Zealand are first on 72.22, narrowly ahead of South Africa on 71.43. India sit fourth at 51.52, giving their upcoming away assignment significance beyond the result of a single series.
How the nine teams stand
The ICC’s standings report lists the teams in this order, using points percentage:
- New Zealand: 72.22; six Tests, four wins.
- South Africa: 71.43; seven Tests, five wins.
- Australia: 69.23; 13 Tests, nine wins.
- India: 51.52; 11 Tests, five wins.
- Bangladesh: 45.83; eight Tests, three wins.
- England: 38.54; 16 Tests, seven wins.
- Sri Lanka: 33.33; seven Tests, one win.
- West Indies: 27.38; 14 Tests, three wins.
- Pakistan: 7.5; ten Tests, two wins.
The order shows why simply counting victories does not describe the table. Australia have more wins than either side above them, but the standings use percentage across each team’s programme. South Africa’s 2–1 home victory over Australia helped change the position at the top.
India’s route runs through New Zealand and Australia
India recovered something from their Sri Lanka visit with a 1–0 series win, although the draw in Colombo denied them a sweep. Two Tests in New Zealand and five at home against Australia remain on their schedule for this cycle.
Shubman Gill leads India’s run-scoring in the campaign with 1,024, while Mohammed Siraj has 43 wickets. New Zealand’s leading contributors are Devon Conway with 676 runs and Jacob Duffy with 23 wickets. Those performances have helped establish the positions the teams bring into their next contest.
South Africa still have Bangladesh and England at home before visiting Sri Lanka. Australia have New Zealand and India left. The top-two race therefore has substantial cricket still to come: the current table gives the starting positions, while the remaining series will decide who can hold or improve them.
