World Test Championship 2023-25 Points Table: New Zealand take top spot after beating South Africa; India at 3rd

ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 Points Table: Gone are the days when Test cricket used to be purely a bilateral affair and did not account for much in the longer run. With the ICC introducing the World Test Championship in 2019, cricket’s elite and oldest format will have some relevance beyond the tours. The teams compete against one another in order to qualify for the final at the end of a two-year cycle, where the top two sides square off in a battle to be crowned champions of the red-ball format.

Much like 2019, the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle kicked off with the Ashes in England with Australia getting to their title defence right away after hammering India by 209 runs in the final at The Oval in June. Australia were ultimately held to a 2-2 draw by the Ben Stokes-led hosts even though they were 2-0 up at one point, but managed to retain the Ashes and collect their first points in the new cycle in the process.

Team India, who lost a successive WTC final to an antipodean side after going down by eight wickets in the 2021 summit clash, began the new cycle with the tour of the West Indies. The Rohit Sharma-led side would overpower West Indies in the Tests, winning the two-match series 1-0 with rain helping the hosts escape a sweep at Port of Spain.

South Africa joined the party as late as December and opened their account in style with a commanding innings and 32-run victory over India at Centurion in what was only their fourth Test of the year and the first since March. The Indians however, would bounce back in the very next game, winning by seven wickets inside two days to not only level the two-Test series in record time but also jumped to the top of the table in the process.

Australia reclaimed the top spot from India after registering a 3-0 series sweep over Pakistan. They were held 1-1 at home by West Indies in a two-match series and dropped down to second position after New Zealand defeated South Africa by 281 runs on 8 February to surge to the top spot. India won the second Test against England by 106 runs on 5 February and jumped to second place before dropping to three after New Zealand’s victory.

Here’s a detailed look at where the teams stand on the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 table after New Zealand’s win over South Africa at Mount Maunganui: