Auckland: Shubman Gill believes India are still in the race for the World Test Championship final, and says South Africa’s series win over Australia has “balanced the table very nicely” ahead of India’s two-Test series in New Zealand later this month.
“The WTC scenario has become very interesting,” Gill said at the pre-match press conference in Auckland on Tuesday, ahead of the ODI series opener against New Zealand at Eden Park on November 4. “The series that happened between Australia and South Africa was really interesting, and has balanced the table very nicely. Hopefully if we play well in the Test series here, and then we play Australia at home, that gives us a chance of playing in the final.”
South Africa’s 176-run win in the Cape Town decider sealed their series 2-1 and reshuffled the standings. New Zealand now lead the table on 72.22 per cent, followed by South Africa on 71.43 and Australia, who were top before the defeat, on 69.33. India sit fourth and remain outsiders — but the gap at the top is now small enough that their own results can change the picture.
The maths is demanding but not impossible. India have seven Tests left in this cycle: two away against New Zealand, in Wellington from November 19 and Christchurch from November 27, and a five-match home series against Australia starting in January. If India win both Tests in New Zealand, their points percentage would rise to 58.97; losing both would drop it to 43.59 and practically end their hopes. Seven wins from seven would take them to 70.37 per cent and put them firmly in contention for the final in June 2027.
Gill also used the press conference to lay out a scheduling preference for this tour. Ideally, he said, he would have preferred the ODIs to happen before the T20Is, so that players need not be rested for the Tests that immediately follow the ODI series. As it stands, the T20Is came first, the five ODIs run from November 4 to November 15, and the Tests begin just four days later — which is why India have opted to rest a few first-choice Test players, including Gill and KL Rahul, for the last two ODIs of the series.
That is also why Gill framed the tour as a balancing act between two major targets: the 2027 ODI World Cup preparations in this ODI series, and the Test championship race that follows it. “Tests and ODIs are the two preferred formats,” he noted, with the race for the final heating up and World Cup planning in full swing.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, praised the enduring threat of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in ODIs, alongside Gill, despite their modest records in New Zealand. For India, the immediate task is the Auckland opener — but Gill’s message was clear: the two Tests after it could yet decide whether this cycle ends in a final.
