Indian cricket team kicked off their ICC World Test Championship 2023-2025 campaign with a dominant win over West Indies in the first Test match on Friday, July 14. Yashasvi Jaiswal shone with a bat on his international debut and the veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked 12 wickets to guide India to a huge win by an innings and 141 runs at Roseau's Windsor Park.
With a win, India surpassed the current Test champions Australia in the updated WTC points table for the 2023-25 cycle. India earned 12 points from one game and with a winning percentage of 100 lead the updated table.
Australia were leading the standing prior to India's first Test match with 22 points but winning percentage of 61.11 after three Tests in the ongoing Ashes 2023. They took a 2-0 lead but lost the last match at Headingley as England started their fightback to remain alive in the Ashes.
But ICC deducted two points from both Australia and England due to a slow over-rate in the first game. England started their campaign with minus two points but with a win in their last game, now are placed in third place with 10 points.
India suffered a heartbreaking defeat to New Zealand in the WTC final 2021 and then an embarrassing 209-run loss to Australia in the latest final last month. But Rohit Sharma-led side has kicked off their campaign with a perfect win and will be looking on to hold their lead at the top of the points table.
Updated WTC Points Table 2023-2025:
Meanwhile, India is likely to dominate the points table for the rest of 2023 as they next play Test cricket in December on a South Africa tour. India will host England in five-match Test series in January-February 2024.
