Delhi: India had to face defeat by 6 wickets in the fifth and last Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). With this defeat, India lost the series 3-1 after a decade. Also, the hopes of reaching the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) were also dashed. This is the first time that India failed to make it to the finals of the WTC. After reaching the finals in 2021 and 2023, Team India will no longer be a part of the final to be held at Lord’s in 2025. Now Australia and South Africa will face each other in the WTC final from June 11 on this historic cricket ground.

India played a total of 19 Test matches in the WTC 2023-25 ​​cycle, with results of 9 wins, 8 losses and 2 draws. India started its campaign in 2023 with a series win against West Indies. After this, struggled to level the series against South Africa. In January 2024, they also won the T20 World Cup after registering a 4–1 win over England on their tour of India.

Beginning of Gambhir-Rohit era

After the series win against England, Rahul Dravid ended his tenure as the coach of the Test team. After winning the T20 World Cup, Gautam Gambhir took over the responsibility of coaching. Under his leadership, India registered a 2–0 series win against Bangladesh, marking the beginning of the Gambhir-Rohit era.

After this, India suffered a 3–0 series defeat against New Zealand at home, which happened for the first time in the history of Indian cricket. This was after 12 years when India lost a Test series at home. After this there was pressure to win 4 out of 5 matches against Australia. India started with a spectacular win under the leadership of Jasprit Bumrah in Perth. However, India’s campaign faltered due to defeats in the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests. The Brisbane Test was drawn due to rain and the series went to Australia 3-1.

India’s WTC 2023-25 ​​cycle

  • West Indies tour: Won 2-match series 1-0
  • South Africa tour: 2-match series drawn 1-1
  • England tour of India: Won 5 match series 4-1
  • Bangladesh tour of India: won 2 match series 2-0
  • New Zealand tour of India: lost the 3-match series 0-3
  • Australia tour to India: Lost 5-match series 1-3

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