MELBOURNE: India have been handed a massive blow to their World Test Championship (WTC) final chances after a terrible show against hosts Australia in the five matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2025.
Australia beat visitors India by 184 runs in the fourth Test, the Boxing Day Test to take 2-1 lead after which the Aussies now inch close to secure a second spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
South Africa have already secured their first World Test Championship Final spot with a two-wicket thrilling win over Pakistan in the first Test in Centurion.
With a huge defeat, India have now no chance to qualify for the WTC final on their own. However, they have still a chance to defend their win against hosts Australia in the last match and then Sri Lanka beat Australia by at least a 1-0 margin in the upcoming test series at home.
A win against Australia in the last match would put India on 55.26 points at the table, which would leave them pinning their hopes on Sri Lanka beating Australia by at least a 1-0 margin.
Two draws would leave India on 53.51. Sri Lanka can go past that with a 2-0 win, while Australia would need at least one win in Sri Lanka to beat it.
If India draw the last Test, they would finish on 51.75 and be out of the race. In such a scenario, Australia would finish ahead of India even if they were to lose 2-0 in Sri Lanka and would qualify for the WTC final.
If the Sydney Test produces a draw and Sri Lanka beat Australia 2-0. In this case, Sri Lanka will join South Africa in the WTC final.
