Pakistan's state has gone from bad to worse in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle as they have now lost two back-to-back series. Pakistan were clean swept by Australia earlier at the start of the year and now Bangladesh have handed them a 2-0 defeat in Rawalpindi. Pakistan have some soul-searching to do as Bangladesh were better in all three departments and despite being 448/6 behind in the series opener and 26/6 down in the second, they not just came back but won both the games.
With this result, Pakistan's PCT has dropped to 19.047 and their chances of making it to the WTC final have taken a nosedive. Pakistan are currently in the eighth place on the WTC points table and have to win all their remaining matches to have a shot at qualifying for the final but even that may not be enough now that they have lost five Tests in a row and suffered a six-point deduction after the first game.
WTC points table
Even if Pakistan win all of their remaining seven Tests, their PCT will reach a maximum of 59.52. In the past there have been cases that a team has made it to the WTC final with a PCT in late 50s but less than 60, however, for Pakistan to be able to do so, they will have to beat both England and South Africa and hope that one of India or Australia keeps losing for them to contest for that one spot.
Hence, Pakistan are all but out of the race but still have a mathematical chance. A lot of things have to go right for that to happen though, but firstly, Pakistan have to win seven in row. As for Bangladesh, they are still very much in the hunt.
After the series win against Pakistan, Bangladesh's PCT has jumped up to 45.83 and with two wins in a row, they have ensured that they still can afford one loss in their remaining six games. Five wins out of their next six matches should be enough for Bangladesh to make it to the WTC final. Can they?
