Team India reignites World Test Championship dreams

Aim is to reach final but player management crucial, says Rohit SharmaBENGALURU: With a comprehensive 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in the home Test series, India may have climbed to the fourth position in the World Test Championship standings, but the road ahead for Rohit Sharma's men is arduous. Currently, Australia top the table with 77.77 % (56 points) with four wins and a draw. They are followed by Pakistan (66.66%; 40 points), South Africa (60%; 36 points) and India (58.33%; 77 points). India have six wins, three losses and two draws, with their chances of making a bigger impact in the nine-team table being dealt a huge blow when they lost the three-match series 1-2 against hosts South Africa earlier in the year.

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As a full-time three-format national captain, Rohit Sharma has started his journey on a bright note. Eleven games across formats (6 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Tests) isn't a big sample size to judge someone but big enough to be hopeful that the future would be good.

This means India can ill afford to slip up in the remaining seven Tests in the WTC cycle. Post Indian Premier League, India have a packed schedule beginning with a one-off Test against England at Edgbaston from July 1-5. They then travel to Bangladesh, where they play two Tests in November and also host Australia in a 4-match Test series. India, who lost to New Zealand in the inaugural WTC final at Southampton in June last year, have set themselves long-term goals. Spelling out the team's plans, skipper Rohit said, "The long-term target is to reach the final of the WTC. But honestly, we cannot look that far ahead as it does not work