Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by four wickets in the first Test on Wednesday (July 20) in Galle to go 1-0 up in the two-match series. With the victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test of the series, Pakistan not only took the series lead, but also displaced their Asian rivals from third place in the ICC World Test Championship rankings.
Sri Lanka jumped to third place in the points table after defeating Australia in the second Test earlier this month in Galle. But with a defeat at their home ground against Babar Azam and Co., they have now dropped to sixth spot.
The Indian men’s cricket team is the one who got benefitted by Pakistan’s win, as they also moved one spot up to number four in the rankings now, and have mathematically kept themselves alive in the race to qualify for the WTC final for the second season in a row.
India, led by Virat Kohli, reached the final of the inaugural edition in 2021 but were defeated by New Zealand in the final in Southampton on June 23, 2021.India had dropped below Pakistan to number four in the WTC rankings after a seven-wicket defeat against England in the one-off rescheduled Test at the start of this month, and then was pipped to fifth position with Sri Lanka’s win over Australia in the second Test. But now again, they have taken the fourth position.The Rohit Sharma-led side has 52.08 percentage points as compared to Pakistan, who have 58.33. South Africa leads the pack with 71.43 PCT (%) and is followed by Australia with 70. The top-two teams will qualify for the finals of the 2021–23 WTC cycle.
World Test Championship 2021-23 Points Table:
| Postion | Team | PCT (%) | Points | Win | Loss | Draw | Series | Penalty |
| 1 | South Africa | 71.43 | 60 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Australia | 70 | 84 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 58.33 | 56 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | India | 52.08 | 75 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 | -5 |
| 5 | West Indies | 50 | 54 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 48.15 | 52 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | England | 33.33 | 64 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | -12 |
| 8 | New Zealand | 25.93 | 28 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 13.33 | 16 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
South Africa are scheduled to take on England in a three-match Test series from August 17 to September 12, and a lot can change in the standings if the Poms continue to maintain their winning streak.
