The WTC 2025–2027 cycle has started with the former champions Australia taking on West Indies. A 2-match series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and a high-profile five-match series between India and England, which is now called the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh
People witnessed Sri Lankan legend Angelo Mathews retire from the longest format at the very start of the new cycle. He announced his retirement via social media platform X (Twitter).
“It is time for me to say goodbye to the most cherished format of the game, International Test Cricket!! The past 17 years of playing cricket for Sri Lanka has been my highest honour and pride. Nothing can match that feeling of patriotism and servitude when one dons the National Jersey.”
“I have given my everything to cricket and Cricket has given me everything in return and made me the person that I am today. I stand grateful to the game and thankful to the thousands of Sri Lanka Cricket fans who have been there for me throughout my career during my highest of highs and lowest of lows.”
“The first test match against Bangladesh in June will be my last red-ball appearance for my country.”
— Angelo Mathews (@Angelo69Mathews) May 23, 2025
The first match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was drawn, but the home side came out on top in the second test, winning it by an innings and 78 runs.
Australia vs West Indies
On the other hand, Australia is showing its dominance in Test cricket as usual against the West Indies. Currently, Australia is topping the ICC Test rankings by winning their first match by 159 runs. Josh Hazlewood showed his class once again with a fifer.
Appreciating his performance, Australia captain Pat Cummins said, “He’s special. If there’s anything in the pitch, he has a good presentation of the seam, bowls the perfect lengths, and keeps impressing. He’s come off runs in the Sheffield Shield (on Beau Webster), he’s got runs in different conditions, and keeps the scoreboard ticking.”
West Indies captain Roston Chase said after the loss, “The result is a little heartbreaking. We started the match well. After losing the toss and bowling them out for 180, we would have taken it. We wanted 100 runs as a lead. The plan was that. We didn’t get the start. You can’t drop catches at this level. Can’t discredit the bowlers. We didn’t get off to a good start. Things were happening with the new ball. We were on the back foot from ball one, losing our most experienced batter in the form of Brathwaite.”
India vs England
India introduced their new Test captain, Shubman Gill, but India failed to achieve success in their first match against England. They failed to grab some important opportunities which could have made a big difference for them in the new cycle. India introduced their new Test Captain, Shubman Gill, but India failed to achieve success in their first match against England. India missed some important opportunities which could have made a big difference for them in the new cycle.
The challenge for India has become even harder, as Jasprit Bumrah is likely to be unavailable for the next match against England, and with the comeback of Jofra Archer for England.
India has been very dependent on Jasprit Bumrah lately. The Indian Test captain agreed that they had missed the opportunity to win the first Test match against England. After the loss, Gill quoted, “A brilliant Test match. We had chances in the match, a few dropped catches, and the lower order didn’t contribute as it would have been. Yesterday, we were thinking of giving them around 400–430 to chase and declare, but our lower order added around 20–25 runs, which is never a good sign. Even today, I thought after their brilliant opening partnership, we did have our chances but it just didn’t go our way.”
Here is the current ICC Test Rankings of WTC 2025-27 cycle:
