WTC scenarios: India in tricky territory after drawn Colombo Test

<a href="/cricket-news/139980/unyielding-dinusha-spirited-tail-hold-off-india-to-save-colombo-test" class="text-cbTextLink">Sri Lanka have held on to a draw</a> in the second Test at Colombo SSC as the series ends in a 1-0 win for India. Bangladesh’s 1-1 vigil Down Under in Australia and India’s 1-0 win in Sri Lanka have had major say in the qualification as the fourth iteration of WTC moves into its third act. South Africa and Australia qualified for the finals in the last edition with 69.44% and 67.54% respectively, while Australia and India did so in 2023 finals with 66.67% and 58.80%. <b>WTC points table at the end of SL vs Ind, Colombo SSC</b> mPk6WQozEg3 Here’s what each team in contention needs to do to progress. <b>Australia</b> <b>Series left:</b> SA (3 Tests, away); NZ (4 Tests, home); Ind (5 Tests, away) Australia sit on top of the table with 80% PCT with eight wins and two defeats from ten matches despite the reversal against Bangladesh in Darwin. They are the best-placed team to qualify and have 12 Tests left in the cycle of which eight will be played in South Africa and India. Six wins and a draw will take them past the 65% mark while seven wins and a draw will inch them closer to 70% that should most certainly confirm a top two spot, given how the past two cycles were played out. <b>South Africa</b> <b>Series left:</b> Aus (3 Tests, home); Ban (2 Tests, home); Eng (3 Tests, home); SL (2 Tests, away) South Africa have a tough away cycle with all their away rubbers in Asia; they did well to win three of the four Tests with a series in Sri Lanka still to play. They have all of eight Tests left at home out of the ten remaining, though six of them are against Australia and England, both of whom have done well in these shores in the recent past. Six wins and a draw will take them to 66.67% PCT while seven wins should soar them past 70% which should mostly suffice for a ticket to the Oval next June. <b>New Zealand</b> <b>Series left:</b> Ind (2 Tests, home); Pak (2 Tests, away); Aus (4 Tests, away); SL (2 Tests, home) New Zealand have had a steady start to the cycle winning against West Indies at home and England away and currently sit third on the table with 72.22%. Should they win both their home series left – against India and Sri Lanka, neither of whom have won in these shores in the last 15 years – and win two of their six away Tests, that should take them close to 65% PCT. If they manage to win seven of the ten remaining, that should take them to 70.83% PCT. <b>Bangladesh</b> <b>Series left:</b> SA (2 Tests, away); WI (2 Tests, home); Eng (2 Tests, home) Bangladesh are in the middle of their best run in a WTC campaign across the four editions, currently sitting on fourth ahead of the likes of India, England, and Sri Lanka. Four of their six remaining Tests are at home and against non-Asian sides and they will need to maximize those to stand a chance of qualifying. But among the sides in contention, they have the fewest matches to play (six) and each result will have a greater bearing on their qualification probability. If they will four and draw the other two, they will reach 66.67% while four wins and two defeats take them to 61.11%. <b>India</b> <b>Series left: </b>NZ (2 Tests, away); Aus (5 Tests, home) The drawn Test at Colombo SSC means India end the Sri Lanka tour with 16 points rather than 24 that were on offer and places them on a sticky wicket. They currently sit fifth on the points table with 51.52% PCT and if they win all twins, seven remaining Tests, they will get to 70.37% PCT. Six wins, and a defeat will take them close to 65% PCT and that will shave off a chunk of points from Australia against whom they play five Tests. Should they lose 0-2 in New Zealand and beat Australia 5-0 at home, they will end with 59.26% PCT and might mostly need other results come their way. <b>Sri Lanka</b> <b>Series left:</b> Pak (2 Tests, away); NZ (2 Tests, away); SA (2 Tests, home) A hard-fought draw at the SSC may have lifted Sri Lanka’s spirits but does little to salvage their already precarious position in WTC table. They end the India series at home bagging just four points out of 24 available and have only one home series left out of three remaining in hand. Wins in all their six remaining games can take them only to 66.67% PCT that might need many other results to go their way for a miraculous chance of qualifying. <b>England, Pakistan, & West Indies</b> All three sides have relatively negligible chances for a top two finish and can reach the maximum limit of 53.17%, 56.41%, and 32.14% respectively, that might not suffice.