Need 100 More Points To Play In Test Champions Final, Says Ravi Shastri

As India gear up to play their first Test series of 2020, head coach Ravi Shastri has set the target for the world number one Test side. India are on a roll in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship. The Virat Kohli-led side has won all of its seven Tests in the championship so far.

With 360 points, India are comfortably placed at the top of the points table. No other team has managed to touch the 300-point mark so far. Australia are at the second spot with 296 points while third-placed England (146) are the only side who have crossed the triple-digit mark.

India are in pole position to make it to the final of the Test Championship, scheduled to take place in June 2021 at the iconic Lord’s in England. And as India gear up for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand, Ravi Shastri has said that the team needs 100 more points to be in contention for the final. India do not play any home Test series this year.

They will play a two-match Tests series in New Zealand before taking on Australia in the four-match series. Ahead of the two tough assignments, Ravi Shastri has said that winning two of the six Tests will keep the team in a good position. But while he made it clear that India’s objective is the Test championship final, he also stated that another objective for the team is to play like the world number one side.

“We need 100 points to be in contention to play at Lord’s (in the World Test Championship final). Two overseas wins out of six Tests will keep us in good stead. We play six Tests overseas this year (two in NZ and four in Australia). So, that’s one objective,” Ravi Shastri told The Times of India.

“The other is to play like the world’s No. 1 Test team, because that’s what this team believes in more than anything else. On the Test front, that’s what we’re looking at,” he added.

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