Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 3 (ANI): India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday said that the team is not thinking about the World Test Championship (WTC) finals, rather they are focusing on the upcoming Test series against England.
New Zealand on Tuesday had become the first team to qualify for the inaugural ICC World Test Championship final as the Test series between Australia and South Africa has been postponed. The Kiwis will now be joined by either India, England, or Australia in the WTC finals.
“See right now we are just focusing on this series and on this first Test here in Chennai. World Test Championship finals are still three-four months away, New Zealand played really well and they deserve to be playing the finals of the World Test Championship. We are playing against England now, it is all about taking it one game at a time. England is a very good team, we have to play good cricket, we will see what happens after this series,” said Rahane while replying to an ANI query during the virtual press conference on Wednesday.
To book their place in the WTC finals scheduled from June 18-22, India will have to win the series against England by 2-1, 2-0, 3-1, 3-0, or 4-0, margin. For England to qualify and join New Zealand, they will have to win the series against India by 3-1, 3-0, or 4-0 margin.
Australia can still qualify for the much-anticipated ICC WTC final if the series between India and England ends up as a drawn series, or if India wins the series 1-0 or England win it by 1-0, 2-1, or 2-1 margin.
Last year, the ICC had decided to change the point-rating system of WTC due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The WTC table has now been revised to rank teams based on the percentage of points earned from the series played, meaning teams are ranked in order of percentage of points earned.
Earlier today, Rahane had a hit in the nets ahead of the upcoming four-match Test series against England. The Virat Kohli-led India squad had their first outdoor training session on Monday ahead of the first Test against England.
Three RT-PCR tests for coronavirus were conducted at regular intervals and all the Indian players were tested negative. The hosts were then cleared to begin their nets sessions from Tuesday as they have completed the six-day quarantine.
India and England are set to lock horns in four Tests, three ODIs, and five T20Is. The first two games of the Test series will be played in Chennai before the cricketers move to Ahmedabad for the third and fourth Test. (ANI)