Teams finishing in the top two of the WTC table will contest in the final, which is scheduled to be played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 11.
India have a total of 10 Tests left to play in the ongoing WTC cycle, five against Bangladesh (2 Tests) and New Zealand (3 Tests) at home and a five-match series on the tour of Australia as the defending champions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
A unique record awaits India right at the start of that 10-Test run, if they manage to beat Bangladesh in the first match of the series, beginning September 19 in Chennai.
Never before in the history of Indian cricket have the wins outnumbered the defeats. But a victory over Bangladesh will change that statistic.
India have so far played 579 Tests. The wins and losses from these games are currently tied at 178 each, while 222 matches ended as draws and one was tied.
A victory will mean India’s tally of Test wins would be higher than the defeats for the first time.
Here are some other interesting records in the offing during the India vs Bangladesh Test series:
– Having won the last five Tests in succession vs Bangladesh between 2017 and 2022 (one each at Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Chattogram and Mirpur), India would like to extend their winning streak.
– Virat Kohli (8848 runs at an average of 49.15 in 113 matches) needs 152 runs to become the fourth Indian batsman to complete 9000-plus runs in Tests. Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13288) and Sunil Gavaskar (10122) are the batsmen ahead of Kohli.
– Mushfiqur Rahim (5892 runs at an average of 39.01 in 90 Tests) is all set to become the first batsman to complete 6000 runs for Bangladesh in Tests.
– Taijul Islam (195 wickets at 31.92 in 46 Tests) needs just five wickets to complete 200 wickets and to become the second Bangladeshi bowler after Shakib Al Hasan (242 at 31.31 in 69 Tests) to achieve the distinction.
– Ravindra Jadeja needs just six wickets to complete the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. His present tally is 3036 runs at an average of 36.14 and 294 wickets at 24.13 runs apiece in 72 Tests. Just two Indian all-rounders have accomplished the feats — Kapil Dev (5248 runs and 434 wickets) in 131 Tests and Ravichandran Ashwin (3309 runs and 516 wickets in 100 Tests).
– With another six wickets, Jadeja will become the third left-arm spinner to complete 300-plus wickets in Tests. At present, only three left-arm spinners are ahead of him — Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath (463), New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori (362) and England’s Derek Underwood (297).
– Having managed 26,942 runs at an average of 53.35 in 591 innings, Kohli is poised to become the fourth batter to complete 27,000-plus runs across formats in international cricket and to join Sachin Tendulkar (34,357), Kumar Sangakkara (28,016) and Ricky Ponting (27,483).
– Kohli is all set to create cricket history as and when he reaches 27,000 runs across formats. Tendulkar had taken 623 innings to achieve the distinction. Having played 591 innings and needing just 58 runs to accomplish the feat, Kohli is poised to break Tendulkar’s record for quickest to 27,000 international runs.
(Stats By: Rajesh Kumar)