As the WTC'21-23 cycle comes to its business end with just 3 more Test series left to be played, a lot of Test cricket followers are very interested to know which two teams will qualify for the marque event. Teams like England, Bangladesh & Pakistan have already played 6 different Test series in the WTC'21-23 cycle and here in this article, we will have a look at what all teams have to do to qualify for WTC 2023 finals.

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Remaining Test Series in WTC'2021-2023 Cycle:

IND vs AUS 4-match series (Feb-Mar 2023)

SA vs WI 2-match series (Feb-Mar 2023)

NZ vs SL 2-match series (Mar 2023)


Team Pts (%) Max Pts (%) Min Pts (%)
AUS 75.56 80.70 59.64
IND 58.93 68.055 45.83
SL 53.33 61.11 44.44
SA 48.72 55.55 42.22
ENG 46.97 46.97 46.97
WI 40.91 50 34.61
PAK 38.1 38.1 38.1
NZ 27.27 38.46 23.07
BAN 11.11 11.11 11.11

In the above table, Pts represents the % of points accumulated by a team currently while Max & Min Pts represent the maximum & minimum Pts % that can be earned by each team assuming none of these gets penalized.

Now Pakistan will remain at 38.1% which will be less than min pts % of AUS, ENG, IND, SL & SA thus Pakistan can never end up in the top-2 position and thus they are ruled out of WTC 2023 finals.

If New Zealand manages to beat Sri Lanka by 2-0 in the upcoming Test series, then they would end up at a maximum of 38.46% which is again less than min pts% of AUS, ENG, IND, SL & SA thus they are also ruled out of WTC 2023 finals.

Bangladesh with 11.11% also will get ruled out of WTC 2023 finals like Pakistan and New Zealand.

The other Six teams AUS, IND, SL, SA, ENG & WI have a chance to enter WTC 2023 finals with AUS & IND having more probability than the other four teams. Here in this article, we will have a look at what all these 6 teams need to do to qualify for WTC 2023 finals.

1. Australia:

Australia have almost become the first team to enter WTC 2023 finals.

- The only way Australia can be eliminated is if they lose to India by a 0-4 margin and Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by a 2-0 margin then India (68.055%) and Sri Lanka (61.11%) will qualify for WTC 2023 finals ahead of Australia (59.64%).

- Even if the IND-AUS Test series ends in a 3-0 margin then Australia will qualify for the WTC 2023 finals with 61.40% ahead of the Sri Lankan side who can maximum end with 61.11%.

Thus, the Aussies just need to ensure at least 1 draw in the 4-match Test series against India to confirm their birth in WTC 2023 finals.

- If AUS lose to IND by a 0-4 margin, then one of the Test matches in 2 match series between SL and NZ must end in a draw for Australia to qualify for WTC 2023 finals.

2. India:

India have a good chance to qualify for WTC 2023 finals if they beat Australia in the upcoming home series by a 3-1 margin.

 - If India win the Test series by a 3-1 margin, then they will end at 62.5% which will be greater than the max pts (%) of SL (61.11) & SA (55.55) thus they will qualify without depending on other teams' results. 

If India wins by a 3-0 margin, then they will end up at an even better position of 64.35% to qualify for WTC 2023 finals 

- If India win the Test series by 1-0, 2-0, 2-1 (or) drawn by a 2-2 margin then one of the Test matches between SL & NZ must end in the draw for India to qualify for WTC 2023 finals.

- If India end the Test series with result of 0-0, 0-1, 0-2, 0-3, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 then they need to depend a lot on other teams' results in the upcoming series between NZ-SL & SA-WI game.


IND-AUS 0-0 0-1 0-2 0-3 1-1 1-2 1-3
NZ-SL (min req. ) 1-1 0-0 1-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 1-0
SA-WI (min req. ) 1-0 1-0 1-1 0-1 1-0 1-0 0-0

Based on the IND-AUS series' results mentioned above, the minimum eligibility of NZ-SL & SA-WI should satisfy as shown above.

If India lose to Australia by a 0-4 margin, then they will be eliminated.

3. Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka have a chance to enter WTC 2023 finals

- If they manage to beat NZ by a 2-0 margin and India fail to beat Australia in at least 3 out of 4 Test matches.

- If Sri Lanka manage to win at least 1 out of 2 Test matches then they will end up between 52.7% to 55.55%. For Sri Lanka to still have a chance at least 1 match in the SA-WI series should end in a draw and in the AUS-IND series, India shouldn't win more than 1 Test match.


NZ-SL 1-0 1-1
IND-AUS (min req.) 1-1 1-3

Based on the NZ-SL series result the minimum eligibility of IND-AUS should satisfy as shown above.  If Sri Lanka ends up with 1 or 2 draws without a single win against NZ then IND must lose the series by a 0-4 margin or at max by 0-3 (or) 0-2 margin respectively.

4. South Africa:

South Africa have a chance to enter WTC 2023 finals

- If they manage to beat WI by a 2-0 margin, and India win lesser than 2 out of 4 Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka must also lose 1 Test match to New Zealand.

- If SA manage to win only 1 out of 2 Tests against WI, then IND shouldn't win any Test matches against Australia and at maximum India can have only 1 (or) 2 drawn Tests alone. SL also shouldn't win a single Test match against New Zealand

5. England:

England, currently at 46.97% should hope that IND, SL & SA lose as many games as possible. For England to qualify:
- IND must lose to AUS by a 0-4 margin
- SL must lose to NZ by a 0-2 margin
- SA must lose to WI by a 0-1 margin.

If WI wins both Test matches then they reach 50% and go past England in Pts (%) thus WI must win 1-0 against South Africa. 

6. West Indies:

West Indies team can maximum reach a tally of 50% if they win by a 2-0 margin vs SA. even a 1-0 win vs SA will rule them out of WTC 2023 finals as they end up with 44.44% only which is less than min pts (%) of AUS, ENG & IND.

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Thus, for WI to qualify for WTC 2023 finals:

- WI beat SA by a 2-0 margin
- SL must lose the series to NZ by a 0-1 (or) 0-2 margin.
- IND must lose the series to AUS by 0-4, 0-3 (or) 0-2 margin.