How can India qualify for the ICC WTC 2025-27 Final after a 2-0 defeat against South Africa at home

The Indian Cricket Team have found themselves in a spot of bother in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27. They lost the two-match Test series against South Africa at home and this was their second whitewash at home in the last 12 months.

After losing the first match against South Africa by a margin of 30 runs, India suffered another poor loss in the series. They lost the second match of the series by a massive margin of 488 runs, which was the biggest ever for them at home. 

South Africa batted first and they posted a total of 489 runs on the back of Senuram Muthusamy and 93 by Marco Jansen. When it was India’s turn to bat, they struggled big time as they got all out for just 201 as South Africa earned a massive lead of 288. Yashasvi Jaiswal hit 58.

In the second innings, South Africa declared their innings at 260 with 94 by Tristan Stubbs. Thanks to his innings, South Africa set a massive total of 549 for India to chase. It was expected that India would draw the game but that wasn’t the case. 

India had a horrible outing with the bat yet again. They started losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for just 140. Ravindra Jadeja fought hard for his fifty but that wasn’t enough as India lost the match by a massive margin of 488 runs.

How can India qualify for the ICC WTC 2025-27 Final after a 2-0 defeat against South Africa at home

The series loss against South Africa has put India at fifth place on the ICC WTC points table, with four wins from nine matches and a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15. But they are still very much in the race to qualify for the final. 

India have nine more matches left in the ICC WTC 2025-27 - two against Sri Lanka in August 2026, two against New Zealand in October and November 2026 and five at home against Australia in January and February 2027.

If India win all these games, they will have a PCT of 74.07, which will be enough for them to qualify for the ICC WTC 2025-27 final. But things won’t be easy for them as all the remaining three series will be very challenging. 

To qualify for the ICC WTC final, a team needs a PCT above 60. In this scenario, India needs to win at least seven of the nine remaining matches, taking PCT to 62.96. If they win six, two draws, and one loss would take the PCT to 61.11.