It will be an interesting four months for the Indian cricket team and the fans alike with the Men in Blue set to play ten Test matches, both home and away. The fact that India will play in a five-match Test series in Australia after a gap of more than 30 years has taken the excitement levels sky-high.

With India currently on top of the World Test Championship 2023-25 points table, a good run during these Tests will take the Indian team into a third consecutive final of the WTC to be played at the Lord’s in June 2025.

As we cheer for Team India to achieve the unprecedented, let us have a glimpse of the Men in Blue’s journey in the longest format during the current cycle, which began in July 2023.

India vs West Indies, 1st Test, July 2023

It was an excellent start to both India’s WTC campaign and young Yashasvi Jaiswal’s Test career in the Caribbean in July 2023. Winning the Player of the Match award on Test Debut is something you dream of. Jaiswal lived this dream with his patient and match-winning knock of 171.

The Hitman too led from the front with a classic century and Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around the Windies batters picking up 12 wickets. The result? A massive win by an innings and 141 runs.

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India vs West Indies, 2nd Test, July 2023

Virat Kohli shone in this drawn encounter with a gritty hundred to power India to a huge first innings total. Captain RO continued from where he left off in the last match with consecutive fifties in both innings. Though the pair of RO and pocket dynamo Ishan Kishan entertained the Paltan with entertaining half-centuries, rain robbed the fans of some exciting action on the final day.

India signed off its maiden campaign in the new WTC cycle with a 1-0 series win in the Caribbean.

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India vs South Africa, 1st Test, December 2023

With the hopes of winning their first Test series in the rainbow nation the Indian Team set out on the African Safari. KL Rahul’s gutsy century (101) and Virat Kohli’s fighting knock (76) were not enough as South Africa put India on the backfoot with a huge win in the first Test.

Boom Boom’s splendid spell (4/69) stood out along with Rahul’s and Kohli’s efforts with the bat.

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India vs South Africa, 2nd Test, January 2024

What a comeback it was! Brisbane in 2021, and Cape Town in 2024. Team India won their first match at the venue to level the series in style, that too in record time. It was the shortest Test ever to have produced a result.

Mohammed Siraj, in the first innings, and Boom Boom, in the second, ripped through the home side’s batting line-up with six-wicket hauls, spells which could be seen over and over again in a loop. India ended their tour with a resounding win and pocketed crucial points in the WTC cycle.

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India vs England, 1st Test, January 2024

The much-anticipated India-England series started off on unexpected lines with the visitors shocking Team India with a 28-run win, courtesy of Ollie Pope’s extraordinary second innings knock (196).

Boom Boom’s brilliant spell (4/41) could not prevent India from suffering a rare Test defeat at home.

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India vs England 2nd Test, February 2024

A champion side will always show character whenever they are down. And boy, what a show it was. Team India bounced back with a 106-run win in the second Test to show that the loss in the first was a minor blip.

Our own Boom Boom (6/45 & 3/46) was at the centre of this storming comeback with probably the best spell by any fast bowler on Indian soil. His screamer to dismiss Ollie Pope will remain etched in our memory forever. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his first double-hundred in just his fifth Test match for India to continue his fine form.

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India vs England, 3rd Test, February 2024

With India 33/3 on the morning of day one, Captain RO (131), along with Ravindra Jadeja (112), bailed out the team with a knock for the ages. It was Jaiswal’s turn in the second innings to show England the desi version of Bazball with his boundary-filled double hundred, his second in a row.

Another promising debut from Sarfaraz Khan with half-centuries in both innings and Jadeja’s pinpoint spell in the second innings meant India marched ahead with a mammoth 434-run victory.

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India vs England, 4th Test, February 2024

Team India’s wonderful comeback continued in the fourth Test at Ranchi with a five-wicket win. A gutsy knock from Hitman (55 off 81 balls) in the fourth innings set the foundation for the tricky chase.

The process of unearthing new talents continued unabated as Dhruv Jurel, who made his debut in the previous Test, won the Player of the Match award for his crucial knocks in both innings (90 and 39*). Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also joined the party with his six-wicket match haul.

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India vs England, 5th Test, March 2024

It was total domination by India in the fifth Test at Dharamsala winning the contest by an innings and 64 runs to complete a 4-1 rout inside three days. Captain RO and Shubman Gill both scored their second century to pile the misery for England.

This time it was Kuldeep Yadav’s turn to bamboozle the English batters as he returned figures of 7/112 in the match. Ashwin continued his strong second-half performance in the series ending the match with nine wickets.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravichandran Ashwin finished on top of the leaderboard with 712 runs and 26 wickets respectively as India scripted yet another memorable home win.