As persistent rain washed out the opening session of the first Test between India and New Zealand on Wednesday at Bengaluru, it happened with the hosts’ ambition of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final being affected.
With India and New Zealand remaining indoors, the teams took lunch without a ball bowled and without the coin being flipped in drizzly conditions.
India, currently top of the WTC standings, are seeking a third straight foray into the final of the competition.In the first edition, India lost to New Zealand and then to Australia. The Rohit Sharma-led side are primed to make their third straight entry but the Bengaluru rain has affected their quest for a smooth booking.
With weather prediction not looking conducive for cricket in Bengaluru, a start-stop approach is in the offing for the first three days, at the very least, it does not bode well for Team India.
India are top of the World Test Championship (WTC) standings with 74.24 percentage points accumulated after 8 wins, 2 losses and a draw from 11 matches in this 2023-25 cycle.
Australia (62.50 percentage points) and Sri Lanka (55.56 percentage points) are second and third respectively with desire to play the WTC final themselves.
India come into the three-match New Zealand series on the back of a 2-0 success against Bangladesh. If India blank New Zealand as well, they will be assured of a WTC Final place even before the high-profile Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia from November 22.
The World Test Championship final will be played at Lord’s next June.
