ICC World Test Championship: England Close In On Second Placed Australia After Test Series Win Over Pakistan

England's second consecutive Test series win on home soil after beating West Indies and Pakistan, helped them move up to 292 points in the table, further cementing their third place in the points table.

Photo: @ICC (Twitter)

The race at the top in the ICC World Test Championship is heating up after England clinched their second straight Test win at home against Pakistan and moved within four points of second placed Australia in the ICC World Test Championship points table. The inaugural edition of the World Test Championship was started on 1 August last year. England's second consecutive Test series win on home soil after beating West Indies and Pakistan, helped them move up to 292 points in the table, further cementing their third place in the points table. On the other hand, Pakistan who lost their first ever series to England since 2010 are in the mid of the table at fifth with 166 points, 14 behind fourth-placed New Zealand. Both the teams have played 3 series so far. Meanwhile, India hold onto their Numero Uno position at the very top courtesy their good spell of results at home which helped them secure 360 points in four series. The battle for the top spot will be up for the grabs when top ranked India lock horns with second placed Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to be held 'Down Under' in December later this year. The Border-Gavaskar series will also be India's first international engagement since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which forced the cancellation of their bilateral series against South Africa in March earlier this year. The Indian players will get a flavour of franchise based T20 cricket as they along with global T20 trotters will represent 8 teams in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. The thirteenth edition of the tournament will begin on September 19 in UAE. Sri Lanka who have played two series under the World Test Championship is currently at sixth place with 80 points. West Indies and South Africa sit at seventh and eighth positions respectively after playing the same number of series. Meanwhile, Bangladesh are yet to open their account and are presently at the last spot. Each and every series of the World Test Championship contains 120 points. The championship is scheduled to end in July next year. A total of 72 matches will be played between nine sides across all available venues. The top-2 sides after all the matches will fight for the ultimate glory at Lord's.