World Test Championship 2025-2027 so far

ICC World Test Championship

After the inaugural game between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in Galle, we have had a total of 14 games spread across five series until now. The current title holders South Africa played their first rubber of this cycle in Pakistan last month in a hard fought series that ended 1-1. Australia is at the top with 100% record in 3 games while West Indies is the struggling at the bottom with 0 points in 5 games, New Zealand is the only team to have not played a single game in this cycle yet. Let's do a quick recap of the results so far and review the upcoming series announced until the T20 World Cup in early 2026.

WTC standings as of 10 Nov 2025 © Espncricinfo

Bangladesh in Sri Lanka (2 matches)

Result: Sri Lanka won 1-0

Highest run-scorer:       Pathum Nissanka       (369 runs @ 123)

Highest wicket-taker:    Taijul Islam                   (9 wickets @ 34.44)

                                          Nayeem Hasan            (9 wickets @ 26.33)

                                          Tharindu Rathnayake (9 wickets @ 43.22)

Galle hosted the first Test of the series which ended in a high scoring draw after Bangladesh opted to bat first. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto scored twin centuries well-partnered by veteran Mushfiqur Rahim who also scored a century in the first innings. Sri Lanka gave a debut to ambidextrous finger-spinner Tharindu Ratnayake who had a mild outing but a huge 187 from Pathum Nissanka in the first innings and contribution from other batters ensured the game did not see a result.

Sri Lanka introduced another debutant Sonal Dinusha known for his all-round abilities as Bangladesh selected to bat first at the SSC, Colombo. A poor batting performance in the first innings coupled with some impressive Sri Lankan bowling gave the hosts an advantage which the batters took forward after another brilliant innings by Pathum Nissanka. The opener scored 158 coupled with a 93 by Chandimal and Kusal Mendis' 84 as Lanka took a lead of 211 and toppled Bangladesh for only 133 in the second innings thus winning the game by an innings and 78 runs. Prabhat Jayasuriya collected 5-56 in the second innings.

India in England (5 matches)

Result: Series drawn 2-2

Highest run-scorer:     Shubman Gill        (754 runs @ 75.4)

Highest wicket-taker:  Mohammed Siraj (23 wickets @ 32.43)

The much awaited Anderson-Tendulkar trophy of 2025 provided the cricket fans with one of the best red-ball battles of the 21st century. A series that spanned throughout the whole 25 days as the teams battled out for 73 out of a possible 75 sessions provided cricket fans some of the finest cricket which will be remembered for years to come.

India entered the English shores in June playing their first series after the retirements of Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin and Rohit Sharma. A team in transition led by the new captain Shubman Gill, the team punched heavily above their weight against the charismatic Ben Stokes' led England.

The series started with a hard-fought English win in Headingley after they chased down a mammoth target of 371 with 5 wickets in the bag. England opted to bowl on a flat track with Rishabh Pant scoring twin centuries along with hundreds from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman in the first innings as well as KL Rahul in the second. 106 by Ollie Pope and 99 by Harry Brook in the first innings set the tone for England as the openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had an opening partnership of 188 with the POTM Duckett going on to score 149 to follow his 62 in the first innings totally knocking out the Indian bowlers on a dead pitch.

A Shubman Gill masterclass followed at Edgbaston as England again put India into bat. The plan was foiled this time by Gill with scores of 269 & 161 partnered with notable contributions of 89 and 69* from Ravindra Jadeja as India set up England an improbable target of 608. For England, Harry Brook's 158 in the first innings, 184* & 88 by Jamie Smith  were the only talking points. Akash Deep who replaced Bumrah for this game ended up with 10-187 and Siraj took 6 wickets in the first innings gifting India a comeback win of 336 runs.

A more bowling friendly wicket at Lord's saw another very close contest between both evenly matched sides. England opted to bat this time and a return to form for Joe Root with 104 was matched by KL Rahul's hundred as both teams scored exactly 387 in the first innings. A second innings shoot out meant India had to chase down 193. Washington Sundar used the drift beautifully picking up 4-22. However, Jofra Archer returning in Test match format after 4 long years along with the magnanimous Ben Stokes fought off a resolute Ravindra Jadeja marathon of 61* off 181 balls winning the game by 22 runs.

India needed at least a draw at Manchester to stay alive in the series chances of which looked bleak when England took a lead of 311 in the first innings at the back of centuries by superstars Joe Root and Ben Stokes. 5 off the top 6 scored 50+ for England after they won the toss and chose to bowl again. The Indian batters who had no answers to Ben Stokes first fifer with the ball in 8 years in the first innings, had their backs against the walls. Another century by captain Shubman Gill, his fourth of the series, a 90 by KL Rahul and centuries by Washington & Jadeja, all this following a score of 0-2 meant India kept the score line 2-1 going into the final Test at Lord's. A heroic effort by Rishabh Pant coming out to bat in the first innings after fracturing his foot and Stokes bowling non-stop for 11 over in the second innings showed how much each player was willing to put their body on the line in this series as both of them were ruled out of the fifth and final Test.

Cloudy conditions for all five days and a green pitch meant England opted to bowl first after winning their fifth straight toss in the series. Ollie Pope was captaining the side after Ben Stokes was ruled out of the final game and replaced by Jamie Overton. Gus Atkinson playing his first game of the series took a fifer. Siraj and Prasidh hit back with four wickets each as England took a slender lead of 23. The young prodigy Jaiswal chose the perfect opportunity to take responsibility and score his second hundred of the series but the highlight of the second innings was a counter-attacking 66 by Akash Deep who came in at No. 4 as a nightwatchman. The attack left English bowlers jolted who were already a bowler short after Chris Woakes had injured his right shoulder in the field. Another half century by Jadeja, his sixth 50+ score of the series taking his total to 516 runs @ 86 and one of the finest batting performances with the tail by Sundar (53 off 46) meant India left a target of 374 for England something similar to the first Test but on a completely different pitch. India were in a good position at 106-3 but Harry Brook's boundary-laden 111 off 98 and Joe Root's sturdy 105 meant England were looking comfortable to take the series.

 

England needed just 42 runs with four wickets in hand on the last day of the series. Cometh the hour, cometh the man!! Mohammed Siraj had the ball on a string as he along with Prasidh Krishna bowled one of best 53-ball spell to bowl out England for 367 giving India the match by 6 runs and tying the series 2-2, a fair result at the end. His yorker to Gus Atkinson will be replayed in highlights by many in the coming years. Special mention to Chris Woakes as he came out to bat with his fractured shoulder in a sling in what later turned out to be his last International appearance. Huge respect to the courage shown by Woakes for his nation.

Australia in West Indies (3 matches)

Result: Australia won 3-0

Highest run-scorer:     Travis Head       (224 runs @ 37.33)

Highest wicket-taker:  Shamar Joseph (22 wickets @ 14.95)

A series played on wickets which were a nightmare for batters and paradise for fast bowlers, Australia flying directly to the Caribbean after the heartbreak of last WTC final comfortably sealed the series 3-0 in their favor.

Bridgetown hosted the first match as Australia batted first after winning the toss. They dropped Labuschagne in favor of Sam Konstas who had a horrid series accumulating only 50 runs in the series @ 8.33. Travis Head's 59 sandwiched between 5-60 by Jayden Seales and 4-46 by Shamar Joseph was followed by West Indies taking a 10 run lead. Australia however fought back beautifully to score 310 after 60s from their 5,6 & 7 respectively Head, Webster and Carey. S Joseph took 5-87. A target of 301 was too steep for West Indies as they folded against Hazlewood's classy fifer for 141 giving Australia a 159-run win.

The second Test at St. Georges, Grenada followed a similar script with Australia taking a first innings lead of 33 after choosing to bat again. Fifties by Cam Green and Steve Smith in the second innings had West Indies chasing 277. West Indies again folded for only 143 with all Australian bowlers contributing at least one wicket to seal the win by a margin of 133 runs.

The third test at Sabina Park, Jamaica was a day-night fixture and also Mitchell Starc's 100th Test match for his nation who was 5 short of 400 Test wickets. Australia went with an all fast bowling line-up as Nathan Lyon was replaced by Scott Boland. Australia again went into bat winning the third straight toss and scored 225. West Indies folded for 143 in reply. A rapid third innings had Australia all out for 121. Shamar Joseph took 4-34 and Alzarri Joseph took 5-27. Everyone knows how much Mitchell Starc loves pink-ball Tests. His figures before this game were 67 wickets @ 19.26. With West Indies needing 204 in the fourth innings, what followed was nothing short of embarrassing. The Windies batters folded for 27 as Mitchell Starc took 6-9 and Scott Boland's 3-2 included a hat-trick. Australia took home the series 3-0 with Starc winning both POTM and POTS awards.

This catastrophic batting performance by West Indies which saw only one 50+ score in 6 innings was met with criticism from all corners and a special review panel of past legends was set-up to welcome strategies and ideas focused on improving the performance in the islands at both international and grass-root level. 

West Indies in India (2 matches)

Result: India won 2-0

Highest run-scorer:      Yashasvi Jaiswal (219 runs @ 73)

Highest wicket-taker:  Kuldeep Yadav   (12 wickets @ 19.5)

India was playing their first home series after a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of New Zealand last year which led to a host of retirements from the red-ball format. However, this series was supposed to be a cakewalk against a West Indies batting outfit which had recently scored the second lowest Test score of 27 in history against Australia at home. Things got worse for them before the start of the series as both Shamar & Alzarri Joseph were ruled out before the start of the series.

Ravindra Jadeja's magnificent all-round performance of 104* with the bat 4-54 in the second innings with the ball sealed an innings and 140 run win for India. West Indies opted to bat on a good Ahmedabad wicket but folded for 162 with Mohammed Siraj taking 4 wickets. Both Jadeja and Siraj started exactly where they had left off in England. Hundreds from KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel (his maiden ton) gave India and lead of 286 in reply of which another lackluster batting performance meant West Indies could only score 146.

A batting beauty awaited both team in Delhi with India choosing to bat first. 175 from the southpaw Jaiswal and 129* from captain Gill helped India to a huge 518. West Indies again failed to capitalize getting all out on 248 thanks to a 5-82 from Kuldeep Yadav. India pressed the follow-on button but a much improved West Indies showed up in the second innings. Opener John Campbell's maiden 100+ score in 25 matches and a first hundred in 8 years from Shai Hope propelled West Indies to 390 with not much help for the bowlers. India managed to chase down the target of 121 with much ease thanks to KL Rahul's 58* losing only three wickets in the process. 

South Africa in Pakistan (2 matches)

Result: Series drawn 1-1

Highest run-scorer:     Tony de Zorzi (175 runs @ 58.33)

Highest wicket-taker: Noman Ali      (14 wickets @ 23.07)

The reigning Champions South Africa turned up for the first time since winning the title in June. A tough challenge awaited them as they are supposed to play all three away test series in the sub-continent against Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka. There was a sense of anticipation about the kind of wickets on offer in Pakistan after they switched to play on minefields rather than placid wickets last year. Pakistan won only 1 home series in the last six which included a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bangladesh before the start of this series. Shan Masood was against trusted with captaincy for this WTC cycle.

The first Test at Lahore saw a spinning pitch with better bounce as Pakistan decided to bat first. Nineties from Imam-ul-Haq and Salman Agha along with 70s from captain Masood and wicket keeper Rizwan took the home side to 378. Senuran Muthusamy took 6-117. In reply, a fighting ton from Tony de Zorzi and a 71 from Rickelton could only push South Africa to 269 with Noman Ali ending up with 6-112. Pakistan folded quickly for 167. Harmer picked up 4 wickets and Muthusamy had match figures of 11-174. Chasing 277, South Africa were led by the promising Dewald Brevis but his dismissal for a run-a-ball 54 triggered a collapse. The visitors were all out for 183 handing an easy 93 run win to Pakistan. Shaheen Shah Afridi completed a 4-fer and Noman Ali's 4 wickets meant he added one more 10-wicket haul to his late blooming career.

Rawalpindi was supposed to offer a similar pitch and the hosts opted to bat first again. A collapse courtesy returning Keshav Maharaj's 7-102 meant Pakistan scored 333 in the first innings. They had South Africa in a tough position again at 235-8 but a chanceless 89* by Senuran Muthusamy and Kabiso Rabada's Lara-esque 71 helped South Africa take a 71 run lead. 38-year old debutant Asif Afridi bagged 6-79. Pakistan never truly recovered from and collapsed to 138 thanks largely to Simon Harmer's 6-50. A display of great control and accuracy as he completed 1000 wickets in First Class becoming the fourth South African to complete this historic achievement. South Africa completed the chase winning the match by 8 wickets and drew the series 1-1. Muthusamy was awarded the POTS for his all-round brilliance with the bat and ball.

Upcoming tours

South Africa tour of India (2 matches)

The WTC champions travel to India after equaling the two match series in Pakistan with some excellent performances. Such performances showcase how good it will be to have a three-match series.

Anyway, captain Temba Bavuma returns to lead the side with scores of 0 & 59 for SA-A against the India A side. For India, Rishabh Pant is back after a foot injury on the tour of England forced him to miss the series against West Indies. He returned to First class cricket and captained India A recently with two scores of 50+ against the visiting South Africa A. This will be India's first tough home assignment since the 3-0 loss to New Zealand last year at home. The South African side is well prepared to challenge India with experienced spinners and quality batters.

Kolkata will host it's first Test after six years starting on 14th Nov followed by Guwahati on 22nd Nov. 

The Ashes (5 matches)

The most anticipated clash of 2025 will start from 21st Nov as England travel downunder for the 74th edition of the historical Ashes. There is a new buzz around with this Bazball approach led by coach Brendon Mccullum and the charismatic captain Ben Stokes touring Australia for the first time.

The recent pitches in Australia have been in favor of the fast bowlers and England are way short of experience but full of promise with both Jofra Archer and Mark Wood part of a six-men pace bowling squad. Australia on the other hand will miss their regular captain Pat Cummins for the first game in Perth as he recovers from a back injury but is expected to play some part later in the series. Steve Smith will take over in his absence to lead a squad featuring a maiden call up to left-handed opener Jake Weatherald and a recall for Marnus Labuschange after a run of 5 centuries in last eight domestic innings. Scott Boland will replace Pat Cummins in the XI with Sean Abbott and first-timer Brendan Doggett also part of the 15 for the Perth Test.

The series starts at Optus stadium in Perth on 21st Nov followed by a pink-ball Test in Brisbane on Dec on 4th. After a 9-day gap, Adelaide will host the third match followed by back-to-back Boxing Day test at the MCG and New Year's test match in Sydney.

West Indies tour of New Zealand (3 matches)

New Zealand will start their WTC campaign as the welcome West Indies on their shores. West Indies who are struggling at the bottom with 0 points after 5 matches will have another mountain to climb as the Kiwis are invincible when playing in their own backyard however recent back-to-back defeats against England and Australia might give some hope to the touring side.

The squads for this series haven't been announced yet. The series will start in Christchurch on 2nd December. The action will then move to Wellington four days later and finish at the scenic Mount Maunganui on the 18th of December.

* There is also a two-match series between Bangladesh and Ireland scheduled to start on Nov 11 which is not part of the WTC. They two matches will take place in Sylhet and Dhaka.

References : ESPNCricinfo, Statsguru by ESPNCricinfo