Mumbai, Aug 26:
India remain firmly in contention for a place in the 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) final, but former head coach Rahul Dravid believes the road ahead will be demanding, particularly with an away series against New Zealand followed by a five-Test home series against Australia.
India, currently fifth in the WTC points table, have fallen slightly behind in the qualification race, according to Dravid. However, the former India captain insisted that the team’s quality means they cannot be ruled out of the race.
India have made an encouraging start to their ongoing two-Test series in Sri Lanka, leading 1-0 and holding the upper hand in the second Test after a strong batting performance. Dravid said the progress in Sri Lanka was a positive first step, but stressed that the challenges would become considerably tougher.
“I’m hoping they do. It’ll be a great run if India can qualify for the WTC final from here,” Dravid said when asked about India’s chances.
“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,” he added.
India’s next major WTC assignment will be a two-Test tour of New Zealand in October. Dravid believes the series could prove particularly difficult because several members of the current Indian squad have limited experience playing Test cricket in New Zealand.
New Zealand have traditionally been difficult opponents in their own conditions, where movement for seam bowlers and challenging weather conditions can test visiting batting line-ups.
“Away from home, New Zealand is always a challenge,” Dravid said, pointing out that many of India’s younger players have not played in those conditions.
The absence of several experienced players will also be felt. Dravid specifically mentioned the experience previously provided by Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in overseas Test campaigns.
Following the New Zealand Tests, India will host Australia in a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series beginning in January 2027. Dravid expects the Australians to arrive highly motivated, especially because of their history of struggling to win Test series in India.
“A lot of their players will be very keen to do well in India,” he said, describing the Australian side as a generation of great players who would be eager to achieve what previous Australian teams could not.
Dravid also spoke about teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, urging people not to rush the 15-year-old into Test cricket.
He said Sooryavanshi possesses the necessary skills but should ideally spend time playing domestic red-ball cricket before being expected to succeed at the highest level.
Dravid believes the youngster could benefit from “a couple of seasons of red-ball cricket” and said he had little doubt about Sooryavanshi’s ability to eventually hold his own in Test cricket.
The bigger challenge, according to Dravid, could be scheduling. With Sooryavanshi expected to have a busy calendar involving India’s white-ball commitments, finding sufficient time for two full domestic seasons could prove difficult.
For India, the equation in the WTC race is therefore straightforward but demanding: they need to win the majority of their remaining Tests. With New Zealand away and Australia at home still to come, Dravid’s message is one of cautious optimism — India have work to do, but their campaign is far from over.