The 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle has entered its final throes, but with the next edition of the tournament set to begin within days, who has the easiest path to the 2027 final?
As has been for every WTC cycle to date, Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe will not compete in the tournament. Every other side will play a total of six series, three of which will be at home and three away.
Australia
Home: England, Bangladesh, New Zealand
Away: West Indies, South Africa, India
Australia have a number of big Test series coming up over the next couple of years. Their cycle starts with a three-match tour of the West Indies, theoretically one of their most simple series in the next cycle – though the appointment of Roston Chase as West Indies captain and a strong squad named for the series could provide some of the rejuvenation the side has been searching for.
They then host England in a mammoth Ashes series Down Under. While Australia haven't lost a Test to England at home over the last three Ashes series, England have been targeting the series since the start of the Stokes-McCullum era, building a squad with the skills to succeed in Australian conditions.
Australia will host Bangladesh in August 2026, before travelling to South Africa and then hosting their Oceanic rivals New Zealand in the remainder of 2026.
Their final games of the WTC cycle will be their biggest. They will travel to the subcontinent to face India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, looking to win a series against India on their travels for the first time since 2004.
Bangladesh
Home: Pakistan, West Indies, England
Away: Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa
Bangladesh will play in the first series of the new WTC cycle, as they travel to Sri Lanka for a two-match series later this month. They will then play two more Tests against subcontinental rivals Pakistan in March 2026 before travelling to Australia in what will undoubtedly be a tough series five months later.
What is perhaps their most winnable series of this cycle comes in October 2026 when they host the West Indies in another two-match series. The Tigers end the 2025-27 cycle with yet another two-match series against England.
ALSO READ: Next No.4, the pace race - India's four big selection questions for the England Tests
England
Home: India, New Zealand, Pakistan
Away: Australia, South Africa, Bangladesh
England finished fifth in the last WTC cycle, losing 10 out of their 21 Tests while also ceding 22 points to over-rate penalties. Their hardest games of the next cycle undeniably come at the start. They will host India for five Tests in the newly renamed Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy before travelling to Australia for the Ashes at the end of the year.
Poor performances in those series could leave England fighting an uphill battle for the rest of the cycle. A whitewash in either series would already give them more losses than Australia conceded in the 2023-25 cycle,.
England will also play six Tests in the summer of 2026, three against both New Zealand and Pakistan, who will also tricky opponents. They finish the cycle by travelling to South Africa and Bangladesh.
India
Home: West Indies, South Africa, Australia
Away: England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand
As a side who would expect to be in the final in every edition, India were eventually in a fairly distant third during the 2023-25 cycle, finishing a fair way off the top two teams' PCT. They will begin the new cycle amidst somewhat of a transition period following the retirements of both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, and under the new leadership of Shubman Gill.
Gill’s first series as Test captain will be the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in the coming weeks – a tough first outing – before his side return home and host the West Indies and South Africa in late 2025.
India do not then play a Test match until August 2026, when they travel across the subcontinent to Sri Lanka for a two-match series. They will then tour New Zealand in late 2026 before their cycle finishes with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which will be hosted in India. Their end to the cycle could be pivotal, as getting their toughest series in England out the way first could leave them with a decent run to bumping/keeping themselves in the top two.
New Zealand
Home: West Indies, India, Sri Lanka
Away: England, Australia, Pakistan
The inaugural winners of the WTC put up another strong performance in the last cycle, finishing in fourth place and pushing until their final series for a place in the final. While they struggled at home, losing series to both Australia and England, they picked up notable victories away, including an historic three-match whitewash in India.
In this cycle, they face a number of difficult encounters, particularly when away from home. Their cycle starts in late 2025, almost a year after their last Test, with a three-match series against the West Indies, which is likely to be one of their most favourable series’ over the next two years.
New Zealand will then travel to England to contest the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, before playing India in two games at Mount Maunganui and Wellington. In late 2026, they will make the short trip to Australia and play four Tests against the 2021-23 champions in the Trans-Tasman Trophy. The Black Caps have won just one Test in Australia since 1986.
Their final two series come at home against Sri Lanka and away in Pakistan, in what is the final series of the cycle as a whole.
Pakistan
Home: South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand
Away: Bangladesh, West Indies, England
Pakistan had a dismal 2023-25 cycle, finishing rock bottom of the table and winning just five of their 14 Tests, a number which has to dramatically improve over the next couple of years. They have been handed relatively kind fixtures, avoiding both Australia and India, and they potentially have the easiest path to the 2027 WTC final.
Their cycle starts with a two-match series against South Africa in late 2025 before they travel to their subcontinental rivals Bangladesh in the early part of 2026.
July and August of 2026 will see them play two more Tests against the West Indies, one of the two sides to win fewer Test matches than them during the last cycle.
Their most difficult series comes in the summer of 2026 as they face England for three Tests but they will end the cycle at home against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
ALSO READ: The 300 club – How does Pat Cummins compare to other Test fast bowling greats?
South Africa
Home: Australia, Bangladesh, England
Away: Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka
The 2023-25 table-toppers will look to emulate their good form in the next cycle, though they have not been handed as favourable fixtures as last time out.
The Proteas will first travel to Pakistan for two Tests against last cycle’s lowest-placed team, before staying in the subcontinent and playing two more Tests against India in New Delhi and Guwahati.
In a repeat of the 2025 final, they will host Australia in a three-match series in September/October 2026, before playing two games against Bangladesh, arguably their easiest of the cycle, a month later. Late 2026 is set to be a busy period for the Proteas as, one month after that they will host England in the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy. They end their cycle with two Tests against Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka
Home: Bangladesh, India, South Africa
Away: West Indies, Pakistan, New Zealand
The last WTC cycle saw Sri Lanka finish in a very respectable sixth place, but this effort fell short of the 2021-23 cycle, where they seriously threatened making the final.
They may be contenders to sneak into contention for the final next cycle given that they have to play neither England nor Australia. Their fixtures are of a similar difficulty to Pakistan’s, meaning they also have a potential strong path to the 2027 final.
They will play in the first series of this WTC cycle as they host Bangladesh. Dhananjaya de Silva will then take his team to the West Indies in June 2026 for two matches they will have to win if they want to finish in the top part of the table.
Following that, Sri Lanka will host India for two games before travelling to Pakistan at the end of 2026. The tail-end of their schedule begins with two games against New Zealand in Christchurch and Hamilton, before they host South Africa in the penultimate series of the WTC cycle.
West Indies
Home: Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan
Away: India, New Zealand, Bangladesh
There has been much change in the West Indies Test set-up ahead of the start of the new cycle, with Roston Chase appointed as captain.
His side finished one place off dead last in the 2023-25 cycle, and won fewer games than any other team, something which will definitely need to improve over the next few years if they are to boost themselves up the standings. They did, however, face some relatively difficult series, hosting both India and South Africa while travelling to India and England.
Their cycle this time starts with three games against Australia in the Frank Worrell Trophy before they travel to the subcontinent for two more tough games against India and end 2025 with a series against New Zealand.
From that point onwards, fixtures get slightly easier for the West Indies. They host Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the summer of 2026 and their final series is against Bangladesh in late 2026.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
