India’s Schedule for World Test Championship 2025-27 Cycle Revealed!

The Indian Test side did make it to the WTC final in two of the last three editions. However, they were defeated on both occasions, first by New Zealand in 2021, and then by Australia in 2023. Regardless, India maintains its position as the second-most successful team in WTC history, based on wins and win percentage. They boast an impressive 55.35% win rate, having won 31 out of their 56 matches since 2020.

ICC recently released the schedule for the upcoming WTC cycle. Following the England tour, India will host the West Indies for a two-match Test series in October 2025. It will be followed by another two-match home series against South Africa, in the months of November and December, 2025. The team will have an eight-month break, resuming play against Sri Lanka in August 2026 for a two-match away series.

They will then travel to New Zealand for another two-match Test series in October-November 2026, aiming to avenge their 3-0 home defeat to the Kiwis. The 2025-27 cycle will then conclude with the crucial Border-Gavaskar Trophy, featuring a five-match home Test series between India and Australia. The only two opponents that India will not be facing in the upcoming WTC cycle are Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The 2025-27 cycle, marks the beginning of a new era for the Indian red-ball side, without former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and veteran spinner R Ashwin, who announced their retirements from the longest format this year (Ashwin late in 2024). Consequently, Gautam Gambhir and his team face a significant challenge adapting to the absence of such crucial experience in the longest format of the game.

Thereafter, the team will be led by newly appointed captain Shubman Gill, and vice captain, Rishabh Pant. It means that the duo now bear the responsibility of guiding the team to its first-ever WTC title in 2027. Additionally, India will be relying on the prolonged fitness of several key players throughout the next two years, including Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja , KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal .

Ex-India batting coach Sanjay Bangar names his India starting XI for first England Test at Leeds

Former Team India batting coach-turned commentator Sanjay Bangar proposed his playing XI for the Men in Blue, for the first Test against England, at Headingley in Leeds. Bangar’s playing XI interestingly had some notable inclusions and exclusions, leaving fans surprised. 

He picked Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul to open the innings for India, while handing the responsibility of batting at number 3 to Abhimanyu Easwaran, differing from other experts’ opinion, who instead picked Sai Sudharsan or Karun Nair. Bangar then named Shubman Gill at number four, followed by Rishabh Pant at number five, Nair at six and Nitish Reddy at seven, completing the batting order. 

Surprisingly, Sanjay Bangar omitted all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, the team’s most experienced player. He also left out Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar , opting for Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav to round out the playing XI.