ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 Cycle: Preview Part 3 (The Frontrunners)
ICC World Test Championship
In this article, we will be previewing the Nine Teams part of the next ICC World Test Championship Cycle starting next month. The Nine teams that has been part of the competition since it's inception include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies. The other Test playing nations not part of this cycle are Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe.
South Africa
Where they finished
South Africa will be playing in the Finals of this WTC at Lord's in a few days. They will be looking to finally clinch an ICC trophy which has eluded them for years now. Can they finally break the curse of ICC tournaments? Well if we know something about the World Test Championship, it can allow you to finally break that jinx. Just ask New Zealand.
South Africa did not start the tournament well as they finished 6th in the first instance. To be honest this team has been challenged with rebuilding for most of this tournament's history. Big names have retired for them across all three cycles and it's no surprise that this team tops the number of unique players representing their country in WTC. They have given debuts to more than 30 players alone.
They showed improvement in the second term but the young squad could not compete on away tours of England and Australia thus finishing third. This time, they are the finalists after losing only three matches, two of those with a second-string team on the tour to New Zealand (after a clash with their domestic SA20 league meant their first choice players are unavailable). They have been on an imperious run winning their last seven games and will be hoping to bring the title home under Temba Bavuma's captaincy.
Best performers
Highest Run scorer: Dean Elgar (1935 runs 36.50 Ave 3 centuries 185 HS)
Highest wicket taker: Kagiso Rabada (151 wickets 22.27 Ave 7 5-fers 6/46 Best)
Players to watch out for
Typically South African wickets have been the toughest to bat on with the host country ranking lowest in terms of batting average. They have however managed to build a tough batting order with plenty of players contributing to their wins in this cycle. There were at least nine different century scorers in this cycle alone. Temba will lead his batting troops with well established players like Aiden Markram and Kyle Verreynne along with young blood of Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs and David Bedingham. Tony de Zorzi is a back-up opener.
Kabiso Rabada will again marshal his pace-bowling troops. Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi are other mainstays. Dane Paterson was outstanding in their last home season. They also have capable seam bowling all-rounders Wiaan Mulder and recently debuted Corbin Bosch. Nandre Burger and Gerald Coetzee are other back-up options.
Keshav Maharaj, nearing 200 Test wcikets will headline the spin bowling department but who are the other options? All three away series they play will be in the sub-continent this time. Senuran Muthusamy will be the spinning all-rounder. Dane Piedt and Shoun von Berg are other impressive options. Is Simon Harmer still in their plans? Prenelan Subrayen, the 31-year old off-spinner can also be effective in those conditions.
Journey for next cycle
South Africa will play Australia and England for three tests this time while all other Test series will consist of two matches. They start preparations with a two-match series in Zimbabwe. Their journey starts with a tour to Pakistan in October 2025 and then they travel to India next month. After almost a year without red ball cricket, they will host Australia, Bangladesh and England back to back in late 2026. They finally complete their journey on the Sri Lankan shores in March 2027. But before all that, there is a WTC 2023-25 final to look forward to.
India
Where they finished
Cycle 1: Runners-up (P18 W12 L5 D1)
Cycle 2: Runners-up (P19 W10 L6 D3)
Cycle 3: 3rd Place (P19 W9 L8 D2)
Reaching the final the first two times, India could not overcome the final hoodoo. After losing to New Zealand in 2021, they again lost to Australia in 2023 at The Oval, both being one sided affairs. They had a golden chance of being the first team to reach the final three times but a 3-0 home loss to New Zealand, their first series loss at home in 12 years cost them badly. Australia then sealed the deal after defeating them 3-1 Downunder next month.
The team will be going in the next Cycle short an experience of 296 tests with Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma all retiring in recent times from red ball cricket. They have a newly appointed captain in Shubman Gill who will be looking to steer his team in these challenging times.
India has been fairly dominant in the WTC both home and away thus finishing in the top three every time. They managed to win a series in Australia 2-1 with a second string team, considered to be one of the biggest comebacks in the history of the sport and also drew a hardly fought series in England 2-2. The key to a successful run again will be home dominance mixed with a few away Tests wins if they want to aim for that elusive title, a task that won't be easy for a team in transition.
Best performers
Highest Run scorer: Rohit Sharma (2716 runs 41.15 Ave 9 centuries 212 HS)
Highest wicket taker: Ravichandran Ashwin (195 wickets 21.49 Ave 11 5-fers 7/71 Best)
Players to watch out for
Captain Gill will be leading the side for the first time in whites. He needs to punch above his weight with his overseas performances despite a poor record so far. He will have a plethora of options to choose from in his tenure. Yashasvi Jaiswal has taken to red ball cricket like a fish to water and will be the key going forward with his opening partner KL Rahul. Rishabh Pant will don the keeping gloves with Dhruv Jurel being his understudy. Who will replace Kohli and Sharma? Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan will get the first dig. They can also look at Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer (who had a brilliant domestic season) and Ricky Bhui, another domestic stalwart. Abhimanyu Easwaran has been back-up opener for a while now.
Jasprit Bumrah's workload management is significant since his back injury last year. He is the key to India's bowling success. Mohammed Siraj, another mainstay has played the most matches for a fast bowler in WTC for India. Mohammad Shami's fitness is a big question mark for his return to India's test side. The 34-year-old veteran of 64 Tests might be at the twilight of his career as well. India's next gen of fast bowling includes Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Anshul Kamboj. Shardul Thakur and Nitish Kumar Reddy will fight for the fast bowling all-round spot.
Ravindra Jadeja is close to quitting the format. With Ashwin also gone, India will be hoping Washington Sundar and Axar Patel can be the next deadly pair running through oppositions especially on subcontinent pitches and contribute regularly with the bat too. Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar and Nishant Sindhu are other names pushing for these spots. Kuldeep Yadav continues to be the frontline spinner but the Indian selectors are spoilt for choices in this department. Harsh Dubey, Tanay Thyagrajan, Sai Kishore and Siddharth Desai, all left-arm finger spinners are lighting up the domestic scene every year.
Journey for next cycle
India will again start as favorites for the top two spots. They begin their journey in England with a five-match series and then host both West Indies and South Africa for a short two-match series in October and November this year. Next will be two-match away assignments against Sri Lanka in August and New Zealand in October next year. India will finish WTC with a five-match series against Australia at home in early 2027.
Australia
Where they finished
Cycle 1: 3rd Place (P14 W8 L4 D2)
Cycle 2: Winners (P20 W12 L3 D5)
Cycle 3: Finalists* (P19 W13 L4 D2)
Winners in 2023, Finalists in 2025 and narrowly missing out on the top two in 2021 due to over-rate point deductions, Australia has undoubtedly been the best team of the WTC so far. The only team so far to win all four major ICC trophies, Australia has the best CV for any cricket playing team. The reigning kings of cricket will be looking to add another silverware to their cabinet next week.
Australia started the WTC in fine fashion by retaining the Ashes 2-2 and then winning all five home games in 2019. However, a series loss to India and an over rate point deduction in the same series resulted in them clearing a way for New Zealand to ultimately win the first trophy. There were no such repeats next time as they dominated the whole cycle as well as the final to take the trophy home.
The journey this time has been up and down in the middle but they finished strongly winning five of their last six matches. They will now be facing Temba Bavuma's South Africa in Lord's starting 11th June who themselves have won their last seven games.
Best performers
Highest Run scorer: Marnus Labuschagne (4186 runs 48.67 Ave 11 centuries 215 HS)
Highest wicket taker: Nathan Lyon (210 wickets 26.85 Ave 10 5-fers 8/64 Best)
Players to watch out for
It's surprising to see Marnus top the run scoring list for Australia in WTC given he has had a poor run in his last 44 innings scoring just 1355 runs at 30.8. There are serious questions over his place in the team and one more underwhelming performance can see him being replaced in the starting XI. Usman Khawaja is close to calling it quits so is Steve Smith. And with the retirement of David Warner, the batting line-up will be going a slight revamp in the coming years. Travis Head will be leading the charge with Cam Green and Alex Carey being the other regulars. They will need to lock down their opening pair. The frontrunners include Sam Konstas and Nathan McSweeney. Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris have been scoring constantly but fail to perform when matter. Josh Inglis, Beau Webster (a fast bowling all-rounder) will fill up the middle order spots. Kurtis Patterson made a successful return to red ball and Jason Sangha had a dream run last Sheffield Shield.
Captain Pat Cummins, the second highest in WTC history behind fellow Nathan Lyon with 200 wickets will again be taking charge of his fast bowling compatriots. Josh Hazlewood's recent injury setbacks will see him being rested in a few matches to manage his workload. 35-year old Mitchell Starc continues to defy form and age and finished as the third highest wicket taker in this cycle with 72 wickets, one behind his captain. The unlucky 36-year old Scott Boland has been in and out of the side whenever needed and has always exceeded expectations. But with all these now in their thirties Australia should be looking at building the young pace bowlers now. There is no dearth of local talent. Nathan McAndrew has topped the bowling in the Shield and has been plying his trade in County for Sussex as well. Fergus O'Neill is a terrific young swing bowler. Joel Paris, Mark Steketee and Brendan Doggett are all capable options.
Nathan Lyon has topped the wicket taking charts in WTC but for how long will he continue? Matthew Kuhnemann has already put his hand up with some eye-grabbing spells in the sub-continent. Todd Murphy has been pushed down the pecking order with Cooper Conolly getting selected over him in their last game. Off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli has been given consistent A team opportunities and he has grabbed them with full potential.
Journey for next cycle
Australia start with a quiet first half after the WTC 2023-25 final. They will travel to West Indies and play three matches at the end of this month. Next up will be the Ashes hosted by the Aussies. After a break of eight months, they will welcome Bangladesh for the first time in 23 years and play a two-match series. They will travel to South Africa next for three matches and then host New Zealand for a four-match series. The journey will be completed with a visit to the Indian shores where they will battle out for the Border-Gavaskar trophy over a series of five matches in early 2027.
* Australia and South Africa will play the final of WTC 2023-25 at Lord's from 11th-15th June.
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