Can Pakistan still reach the final of WTC 2025?

By Kaif - August 26, 2024
Last updated on Aug 26, 2024 10:31 AM

Can Pakistan still reach the final of WTC 2025?

The condition of the Pakistan cricket team in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 is very bad at the moment. This team led by Shan Masood is at the 8th position in the WTC points table after losing 4 out of 6 matches. Pakistan currently has 30.56 percent points and only West Indies is after them with 18.52 percent points. After the defeat in the Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh (PAK vs BAN Test Match), Pakistan's chances of reaching the WTC final have reduced considerably.

Cricket fans wanted the next WTC 2023-25 final to be between India and Pakistan. But now their dream seems to be shattered. However, if we look at all the equations, yes, it still seems possible for Pakistan to reach the WTC final, but for this they need a miracle. So let's take a look at the equation of Pakistan reaching the WTC final

Image Source: ICC

Can Pakistan still reach the final of WTC 2025?

Apart from the last match against Bangladesh, Pakistan has to play 7 more matches in the WTC cycle. Out of these 8, Pakistan has to play 6 matches at home. For any other team, playing 6 matches at home would have proved to be a profitable deal, but this is not the case with Pakistan. Pakistan won the last Test match at home in 2021, after which the team played 9 more Test matches in which they have not won a single match. In such a situation, the biggest challenge before Pakistan is to win the match at home.
If we look at the last World Test Championship cycle, Australia made it to the final with 66.67 and India with 58.80 percent points. In such a situation, we can say that with 65 percent points, the team can reach the final. At the same time, with 60 percent points, the team can also secure a place in the final.
At present, Pakistan has 22 points in 6 matches - they have 30.56 percent points in their account. If Pakistan wins 6 out of the remaining 8 matches and there is no penalty for slow over rate, then they can reach a maximum of 94 points, in which case they will have 55 percent points in their account, which will not be enough to reach the WTC final.

Image Source: ICC

On the other hand, if the team wins 7 out of 8 matches and there is no penalty for slow over rate, then they can reach a maximum of 106 points, in which case they will have 63.09 percent points in their account. Looking at these equations, it is clear that if Pakistan has to reach the final of WTC 2023-25, then it will have to win at least 7 out of 8 matches, which is very unlikely.
The Indian team is at the top of the points table of the ICC World Test Championship. India has 68.52 percent points. Australia's team is at the second place in this list. Australia has 62.50 percent points. In the last two editions of the ICC World Test Championship, only the teams of India, New Zealand and Australia have been able to reach the final.

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