Credits: Getty Images

The epic end to the enthralling first edition of the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy has also seen the end to the first batch of WTC tests in the new (2025-27) cycle, as a young Indian side managed to draw level 2-apiece with the hosts in the most dramatic fashion, recording their closest ever test win in terms of runs at The Oval yesterday.

With no more tests scheduled between teams competing in the World Test Championship until the start of October, we have a brief look back at what has happened in the three test series that have taken place so far, in the order of series finishing the earliest to the latest.

Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka (2 tests)

Instead of England, the new cycle of the WTC started in Galle this time on the 17th of June as Bangladesh made a full fledged tour of the island nation starting off with 2 tests. The first test was a very special farewell for one of Sri Lanka's great veterans Angelo Mathews. It was played on a flat deck on which Bangladesh opted to bat first and made full use of, putting up 495 in their first innings on the back of big hundreds from captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim. In reply, Sri Lanka almost drew level, falling 10 runs short and being bowled out for 485 runs courtesy of 187 from Pathum Nissanka. By then, the game had reached the second session of day 4.

Bangladesh played out 87 overs in their second innings before eventually declaring on 285 right before tea on the final day. Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto remained unbeaten on 125, registering his second century in the game and now it was for Sri Lanka to survive a little more than one session. However, Bangladesh started off strongly with the ball and reduced Sri Lanka to 34/2 in the 7th over after which Angelo Mathews came out to the middle for one last time in whites. He was dismissed for 8 by Taijul Islam following a 39 in his first innings, then Dinesh Chandimal followed for 6 soon after as Sri Lanka were now 48/4 in the 24th over. However this game was always going to end in a draw, and one can't help but wonder whether we could have seen a different result had Bangladesh declared earlier.

The second match was played in Colombo four days later, and this time it was the hosts dominating the game right from outset. Bangladesh were bowled out for a moderate score of 247 in their first innings, with none of the batsmen being able to register a fifty. After that they had to field for 116.5 overs as Sri Lanka piled on the runs, with Pathum Nissanka once again leading the charge with 158 runs followed by contributions of 93 and 84 by Dinesh Chandimal and Kusal Mendis respectively. Sri Lanka put up 458 on the board and that was that as far as batting in the game was concerned for the hosts as Bangladesh got knocked over for an even lesser score of 133 in their second innings, conceding the game by an innings and 78 runs as spinners Prabath Jayasuria, Dhananjaya De Silva and Tharindu Rathnayake spun a web around the tourists, accounting for 9 of the 10 wickets that fell second time around.

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Sri Lanka have started their journey with a win and a draw, which accounts for a 66.7% PTC in the WTC points table putting them on the second spot below the Aussies.

Australia tour of West Indies (3 tests)

Following their defeat to the South Africans in the WTC 2023-25 final at Lord's, the next assignment for Pat Cummins' boys was a tour to the Caribbean which began with 3 tests, the first of them in Barbados. With Steve Smith injured and out for the first test and Marnus Labuschagne dropped due to poor form, Australia faced a stiff challenge in foreign conditions with a relatively new looking batting lineup which showed when they were bowled out for 180 on the opening day. However the ever reliable Aussie bowling attack helped limit the damage and restricted the West Indies to 190 despite them being 139/5 at one stage, and after being given a second chance they did not let West Indies come back into the game, putting up 310 in their second innings on the back of 60s from Travis Head at no 5, Beau Webster at no 6 and Alex Carey at no 7. Defending 301, Australia made light work of the West Indies batting lineup as Hazlewood picked up a 5-wicket haul and bowled the home side out for just 141, and that too included 44 runs off 22 balls from Shamar Joseph at no 10.

The caravan moved to Grenada for the second test and after having bowled out Australia for 286 in the first innings, West Indies this time around found themselves in an even stronger position at 169/4 in their first innings, however a collapse brought them to 174/7 before the tail contributed handsomely and reduced the first innings trail to just 33 runs. At the end of the second day, Australia were 12/2 in their second innings and West Indies were well and truly in the game. But then half centuries from the returning Steve Smith and Cameron Green helped the Aussies set the hosts a target of 277 and then it was just a repeat of the first test as West Indies fell short by 133 runs as Starc and Lyon took 3 wickets apiece in the second innings.

The third test in Jamaica was historic for many reasons besides what happened there in the 4th innings, as it was Australia's first pink ball test outside home, West Indies' second at home following their first in 2018 and the first at the venue. In a series that was already being dominated by the bowlers, the pink ball was most certainly the last thing that the batsmen would have wanted to see. Australia after being bowled out for 225 in their first innings, bundled out West Indies for 143 and when Australia got bowled out for 121 after that, if there was the slightest of hope that West Indies could challenge the target of 204, it was demolished when Mitchell Starc reduced West Indies to 0/3 in the first over. Soon after he picked up a 4th, reaching the landmark of 400 wickets in his landmark 100th test. Scott Boland also joined in on the party and got himself a hattrick, and Mitchell Starc later ended up taking the final wicket and finishing with figures of 6/9, as West Indies got bowled out for the second lowest total in test history (27).

Credits: Associated Press

West Indies got bowled out in 14.3 overs, which was the third shortest innings in test history, 7 of their batsmen went back for a duck, Starc completed the fastest five-fer in tests (15 balls), Boland became the 10th Aussie to take a test hattrick, Starc become just the second bowler to take three wickets in the opening over of a test inning, among plenty of other records. It was a series you'd look back on say that West Indies were able to take 20 wickets in all three tests, if only their batsmen had showed some application, they could've pulled something off in one or two of the games. Australia sit comfortably at the top of the table with a 100% PTC, with their next assignment being the Ashes at home starting in November.

India tour of England (5 tests)

Now comes by far the best of the not just this lot, but definitely the best test series cricket has seen for a long time. Perhaps we don't need an in depth look at this one because most of you already would know how things unfolded in England, however it would be cool to have a look at the important stuff. This was an Indian team in transition, with Ravichandran Ashwin having retired during the BGT last year, but more importantly two of the biggest names in Indian cricket and both former test captain, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had also announced their retirement in between the two tours. Many would have thought that they did not stand much of a chance against England at their home but that proved to be far from the truth. The series did not start off in the ideal fashion for India as they let England chase down 371 on the final day at Headingley, and had definitely thrown away the advantage as they were 430/3 and 333/4 in their 1st and 2nd innings respectively before suffering collapses.

Having rested Bumrah for the second test at Edgbaston, it looked like England were in the drivers' seat for a 2-0 lead and more so when India were reduced to 211/5 on the first day but that was the last time England looked like being in the game as newly appointed captain led from the front with scores of 269 and 161, which was backed up by a 10-wicket haul from Akash Deep as England went down by 336 runs.

The two teams continued to be highly competitive in the third test at Lord's as they both posted 387 in the first innings, which is just the 9th such occurrence in test cricket history that both the teams had scores levelled at the end of the first innings. England were boosted by the return of Jofra Archer to test cricket after 4 long years, and of course had a fully firing Ben Stokes bowling long spells with the ball which helped them defend 193 on the final day as Shoaib Bashir dismissed Siraj in dramatic fashion despite having an injured finger.

For the first time, it now felt that the wheels had absolutely come for India at Old Trafford. England had taken a first innings lead of over 300 courtesy of massive centuries from Joe Root and Ben Stokes. Joe Root went past Dravid, Kallis and Ponting in terms of his test runs tally and now is just over 2000 away from overtaking Tendulkar and become the leading run scorer in test history. India already facing a mammoth task of having to survive a bit more than 5 sessions were reduced to 0/2 in the very first over by Chris Woakes. But a massive partnership between KL Rahul and Gill, followed by another one from Jadeja and Sundar saw them through to a draw, aided by dropped chances from England including one off Jadeja's very first ball. Fascinatingly, England took 2 wickets in the first over and just 2 more in the next 142 overs.

For the final test at the Oval, it was a quick turnaround and England faced a heavy blow in the form of losing captain Ben Stokes for whom Ollie Pope stood in, and also rested Jofra Archer. India also rested Bumrah, as they had already stated before the series that he would be playing only 3 of the 5 tests. After bowling India out for 224, England went from 129/1 to 253 all out. That wasn't to be their last collapse in the series though. India set them a target of 374 aided by around 6 drop catches, and England were cruising at 301/3 but eventually got bowled out for 367, falling 6 runs short courtesy of a lion-hearted effort from Muhammad Siraj. England of course were playing with one man down in Chris Woakes who had to come out to bat in extreme pain with a shoulder injury, although he did not face a ball as Gus Atkinson would take a run come what may on the last ball of the over.


Credits: AFP/Getty Images

It was a series that finished with a 2-2 scoreline and both teams would definitely feel that they missed their chances to seal the series in their favor. It is ofcourse a big result for the young Indian lead by Shubman Gill who had a dream series with the bat, scoring 754 runs that too despite failing at both Lord's and The Oval. England would be thoroughly disappointed and this would be a massive blow for them with the big Ashes series coming up down under in the winter.

World Test Championship 2025-27 points table

The next series in the WTC is to start on October 2 when India take on West Indies at home. South Africa is also to tour Pakistan for 2 tests, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in October, however the schedule for that tour is yet to be unveiled.