India At Number Two! What Would WTC Points Table Have Looked Like Without Penalties?

Team India is currently in Australia for BGT series  [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/x]

Team India dethroned Australia to take the top spot on the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) points table after securing a huge 295-run victory in Perth last month. South Africa also soared into the top two contention after routing Sri Lanka by 233 runs at home.

On the other hand, England remains in sixth position despite consigning hosts New Zealand to a demoralising eight-wicket defeat in Christchurch last week. The reason behind England's continuous collapse can be attributed to the 22 points they have been penalised over the course of the entire ongoing Championship cycle.

Here, we take a look at how the 2023-25 WTC points table would look without any imposition of penalties on any team.

WTC 2023-25 points table without penalties

As of now, Team India occupies the top spot on the 2023-25 WTC points table with a PCT of 61.11. South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka take the next three slots on the table with a PCT of 59.26, 57.69 and 50.00, respectively.

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The New Zealand cricket team, currently ranked fifth, is also in with an outside chance of securing a place in next year's WTC final. However, their prospects for a top-two finish recently took a major hit in Christchurch as they were docked of three WTC points for holding a slow over-rate against England. Even though Ben Stokes-led England won the match in contention, they are pretty much out of the Championship race as they also lost three points in the process.

Ever since the start of the Championship back in mid-2023, the Englishmen have been penalised the most for maintaining slow over-rates, considering 22 points have been deducted from their tally so far. Remarkably, if not for the penalty system, England would currently be ranked fourth to find itself as one of the leading contenders to secure a top-two finish.

Team India, having been penalised two points so far, would slip to number two on the table behind current champions Australia in the absence of a penalty system. Here, we take a look at the entire WTC 2023-25 points table without any imposition of penalties.

In a factual scenario, Rohit Sharma's Indian drawcards occupy the top spot on the table and can retain their position by lifting the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series in Australia by an emphatic margin.

If Team India fails to get the desired results' Down Under', Rohit Sharma and co. will be hoping for certain exterior results to go their way.

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