Team India still has a route to the World Test Championship (WTC) final, but former head coach Rahul Dravid believes they have already lost ground and now face a demanding finish to the 2025-27 cycle.
India is currently fifth in the WTC standings and has eight Tests remaining. With around six wins likely to be required to give themselves a strong chance of reaching the top two, the margin for error has become extremely small.
Dravid acknowledged India’s difficult position while backing their quality to keep them in contention.
“They’ve fallen behind a little bit, but the kind of quality that the Indian team has, you’re not going to write them off at any stage,” Dravid said. “They started off well against Sri Lanka, so that’s a good first step.”
India currently lead Sri Lanka 1-0 in the two-Test series, but their remaining schedule will provide a considerably tougher examination. They travel to New Zealand for two Tests in October before hosting Australia in a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series from January 2027.
Dravid believes the New Zealand tour could be particularly challenging for India’s younger players. New Zealand have traditionally been difficult to beat at home, while several members of India’s current squad have limited experience in those conditions.
India will also have to manage the absence of several experienced players who have moved on from Test cricket. Dravid pointed to Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin and Cheteshwar Pujara as players whose experience would have been valuable on the New Zealand tour.
The five-Test series against Australia could ultimately prove decisive. Dravid expects the visitors to arrive highly motivated, particularly because Australia’s current generation has yet to win a Test series in India.
For India, the equation is straightforward but demanding. They need to turn their promising start against Sri Lanka into a sustained run of victories and navigate two difficult assignments without allowing further points to slip away.
Dravid’s message remains clear: India has fallen behind, not out of the race.
