They've fallen behind a little bit': Rahul Dravid on Team India's WTC final hopes

NEW DELHI: Former India head coach Rahul Dravid believes India still have a chance of reaching the World Test Championship final, but their path has become tougher. India have slipped behind in the race and will need strong results in their remaining matches to make the top two. India are currently fifth in the WTC points table and face a difficult away series against New Zealand before hosting Australia in a five-Test series from January 2027. India have made a strong start to their ongoing series in Sri Lanka, leading 1-0 after winning the first Test in Galle by 165 runs. They have also taken control of the second Test after a big batting effort. Dravid feels the Sri Lanka series is an important first step, but India still have plenty of work to do. "I'm hoping they do. It'll be a great run if India can qualify for the WTC final from here," Dravid told 'JioStar' when asked if India would be able to make the summit clash from here. "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. They started off well against Sri Lanka, so that's a good first step," he said. New Zealand challenge awaits

India will travel to New Zealand in October for two Tests. Dravid expects the series to be a major test, especially for the younger players who have limited experience of playing in those conditions. "(Playing against) New Zealand away, (is) always a challenge. (They are a) tough team, New Zealand, to play away from home. A lot of the young Indian boys have not played in those conditions, so that's going to be a big challenge," he said. Dravid also pointed out that India will miss the experience of several senior players who are no longer part of the Test side. "Hopefully, they can keep the guys fit and not have a lot of injuries over the next few months. We're missing the experience of Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma), Ajinkya Rahane and (Cheteshwar) Pujara, these kinds of guys who've probably been there the last time India went. So that will be an interesting series as well," Dravid added. 133505136

Australia series another big test

After New Zealand, India will host Australia in a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series from January 2027. Dravid expects the Australian players to be highly motivated after failing to win a Test series in India in recent years. "Australia will be really exciting. A lot of their players will be very keen to do well in India. That's a generation of truly great Australian players, a great Australian team that has not won in India. So they'll be keen to do that," Dravid said.

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