India moved up to fourth in the ICC World Test Championship standings after Bangladesh were beaten by West Indies by eight wickets in the first Test in Mirpur. The result pushed Bangladesh down to fifth and gave India a clearer buffer in the race for a top-two finish without them taking the field.
The change matters now because the table is tight and every result ripples beyond the teams actually playing. India are on 51.52 per cent from 11 matches, with five wins, two draws and four losses for 68 points. Bangladesh slipped to 47.62 per cent from seven matches, leaving them on 40 points after three wins, one draw and three losses.
West Indies earned that swing by bowling Bangladesh out for 142 on the final day and then chasing 170 with eight wickets in hand. Roston Chase did the damage with 5 for 36, the kind of spell that can alter more than one line in the standings. West Indies are still eighth on 26.92 per cent, but the damage from the defeat landed elsewhere first.
That is the odd shape of the WTC table: one result in Mirpur helped India because it hurt Bangladesh's percentage even though India did not play. Australia remain first on 75.00 per cent, followed by New Zealand on 72.22 and South Africa on 66.67, while England sit sixth on 38.54, Sri Lanka seventh on 33.33 and Pakistan ninth on 4.63.
Bangladesh can still change their own standing quickly. The second Test of the Bangladesh-West Indies series begins in Sylhet on 5 November, and another win for West Indies would press Bangladesh's percentage down again. For India, the question is simpler and more immediate: whether this fourth-place lift holds once the rest of the cycle starts to move again.
