Australia topped the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with 152 points and a 66.67%. India finished second in the WTC points table with 127 and 58.8% and will be facing Australia in the final.
The World Test Championship has has added a new relevance to the oldest format of the sport and has revived its competitive nature in many ways. With a world title at stake, teams have a lot more skin in the game now and the inaugural edition, held between 2019 and 2021, saw some exciting moments of action.
It was eventually won by New Zealand as the Kane Williamson-led side defeated Virat Kohli’s India in the final by eight wickets to become the very first World Test Champions.
Also Read: Virat Kohli Test centuries
The second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) began on 4th August, 2021 and ended on 31st March, 2023. Nine teams participated in the Test championship from which two sides – India and Australia – finished on top and qualified for the final.
Let’s see how the WTC points table shaped up between 2021 and 2023 and what were the changes in the format compared to the previous edition:
WTC points table 2021 to 2023
| POS | TEAM | MATCHES | WON | LOST | DRAWN | POINTS | PCT | SERIES |
| 1 | AUSTRALIA (Q) | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 152 | 66.67 | 6 |
| 2 | INDIA (Q) | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 127 | 58.8 | 6 |
| 3 | SOUTH AFRICA | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 100 | 55.56 | 6 |
| 4 | ENGLAND | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 124 | 46.97 | 6 |
| 5 | SRI LANKA | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 64 | 44.44 | 6 |
| 6 | NEW ZEALAND | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 60 | 38.46 | 6 |
| 7 | PAKISTAN | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 64 | 38.1 | 6 |
| 8 | WEST INDIES | 13 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 54 | 34.62 | 6 |
| 9 | BANGLADESH | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 16 | 11.11 | 6 |
Australia finished on top of the World Test Championship 2021-2023 points table. They had the highest percentage of points (66.67%) and finished with a total of 152 points. Australia won 11 matches, lost only thrice, and drew on five occasions across three series. Australia recently lost the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 on their visit of India.
India finished second in the WTC points table and qualified for the final where they will face Australia. In fact, India have become the first nation to qualify for two WTC finals in a row. They had also made it to the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship in 2019-2021 where they lost the final to New Zealand.
India’s 2-1 conquest over Australia in the recently held Border Gavaskar Trophy helped them qualify for the final at the expense of sides like South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand.
Pakistan, West Indies, and Bangladesh were the worst teams of the current WTC cycle. Bangladesh finished at the bottom of the table and won just one Test, while losing on 10 occasions, and drawing only once.
ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 Points Distribution System
| Points Per Match | % of points | |
| Win | 12 | 100 |
| Tie | 6 | 50 |
| Draw | 4 | 33.33 |
| Loss | 0 | 0 |
Each team played six series in the WTC 2021-2023 cycle. Out of the six series, three were at home while three were away from home. Each team secured 12 points for winning a match. If the match ended in a draw, then both teams got four championship point for each draw. Meanwhile, no points were given out for losses. Six points were also reserved in case a tie took place, although that never happened in this cycle.
The format for the 2021-2023 cycle was changed from the previous edition. In that tournament, each Test series carried a total of 120 points. This led to inequalities in the table as a team that won a two-match Test series got 60 points for each win while a side winning a five-match Test series would only get 24 points for each victory.
Also Read: Pink Ball Test
Several series also got postponed and cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic last time around. As a result, the decision was made to tweak and change the points awarding system and it was decided that the percentage of available points collected would determine the standings. Much like last edition, percentage of points won was the chief criteria of the points table in the 2021-2023 cycle as well and that is how teams will be ranked on. But the discrepancy was corrected by fixing the amount of points available for a particular Test.
In the current edition of the World Test Championship, ICC also decided to impose penalty points for slow over rates. For each over short of the over rates teams will lose one championship point.
The penalty point for each over below the over rate hurt India who lost one championship point for every slow over five times. They collected -5 as penalty points for slow over rates, teams present on that list also included England who lost 12 points because of the slow over rate penalty system.
Teams were eventually ranked on percentage of points collected over the course of the entire WTC cycle between 2021 and 2023 after taking into account the points deduction.
FAQs
When will the World Test Championship final be played?
The World Test Championship final will be played on 7-11 June at the Lord’s Stadium in London, England.
Which countries have topped the WTC points table?
Australia and India topped the WTC points table and qualified for the final of the World Test Championship.
Which country has already won the World Test Championship?
New Zealand were the inaugural winners of the World Test Championship. They defeated India in the final in Rose Bowl, Southampton to be crowned as champions of the 2019-2021 cycle.
