With the Shubman Gill led Indian team currently placed fifth in World Test Championships with four wins and four losses in the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, the Indian team will need to win the two Tests during the New Zealand tour later this year as well the planned two Tests in Sri Lanka to have a chance to qualify for the final of the WTC. While the Indian team faces Afghanistan in the one-off Test at Mullanpur starting Saturday, the Test is not part of the WTC cycle. When asked how optimistic is the Indian team for qualifying for the WTC final, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir sounded optimistic and shared how the team believes that they can win the World Test Championship.
“We are always optimistic. Till you have the opportunity to qualify for the World Test championship Final, you are always optimistic because we know the kind of quality we have and the kind of talent we have. I don’t think so there’s any reason not to believe that we cannot win the World Test Championship. And that is what not only me, but everyone in that dressing room will believe. Yes, we can have one or bad series here and there, but we know the kind of talent we have and how much hunger is there in the dressing room,” Gambhir said while addressing the press conference ahead of the India Afghanistan Test match.
During the last WTC cycle, India had finished third with nine wins, eight losses and two draws. The team did not advance to the final, which was played between table toppers South Africa and second-placed Australia. This WTC cycle, the Indian team led by Shubman Gill drew the five-match Test series in England 2-2 followed by a 2-0 win against visitors West Indies last year. In November last year, the Indian team had lost the two-test series against visitors SouthA Africa 2-0. It meant that India had lost five losses out of seven home matches between June 2024 and November 2025. With the Indian Test team seeing the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill leading the Indian Test team for the first time during the England Tour, the team has seen new talents like Sai Sudarshan in the Test team. When asked about the transition phase and the Indian Test team’s recent losses at home, Gambhir shared how he sees the transition as the team’s ability to give their best chance for the WTC cycle. “No, the phase is not at all long because the actual transition happened from England. It’s been only nine Test matches and we were brilliant in England. We won against the West Indies. So when people are talking about transition, the actual transition happened after England. So if after nine Test matches, you feel it’s a long rope, I don’t agree with it. We all know how well this young team played in England and then we won against the West Indies. Yes, loss in the two matches against South Africa, it hurts but then that’s what is going to happen with the transition. The consistency will be missed because these are young boys. The majority of these boys have played less than 30 Test matches, which is still not a lot of experience So for me, I don’t look for excuses. I don’t see that because we haven’t got a full strength team. I think we have got enough talent to turn it around and are very hopeful we will give us the best chance to win the World Test Championships,” said Gambhir.
The Indian team is also expected to play two Tests matches in Sri Lanka post the England tour, where the team will be playing five T20Is and three ODIs. Gambhir also shared how the team is looking towards the possible Sri Lanka Tour as well as how the team will plan differently for the New Zealand tour later in the year. “We are a little fortunate that we’ve got enough time before Sri Lanka because we have got a 15-day break between England and Sri Lanka. So that’s enough time to prepare for those two matches. You might have to prepare a little differently for New Zealand because between the last ODI and the first test match, there is only a three-day break. So we have to pull out ODI players who are part of the Test team because one thing we realise is that we need to start preparing better in red-ball cricket. And that was something which was slacking against West Indies and also against South Africa,” signed off Gambhir.
