Ranking India's 5 best batters in WTC 2023-25 cycle ft. Rohit Sharma

Team India's journey in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle ended following their 3-1 loss to Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under. The result means that India will not feature in the WTC final for the first time. They finished runners-up in 2021 and 2023, going down to New Zealand and Australia respectively.

India played 19 Tests in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, winning nine and losing eight, while two games ended in a draw. They began their journey with a 1-0 win in the two-match series in West Indies and then drew the two-match series in South Africa 1-1. India then beat England 4-1 at home and Bangladesh 2-0. However, they suffered a 3-0 loss at home to New Zealand before losing BGT 2024-25.

With India's journey in the 2023-25 WTC coming to an end, we rank their five best batters in the cycle.

---

#5 Rohit Sharma

Team India captain Rohit Sharma had a horror second half in WTC 2023-25. However, he was impressive in the first half and thus ended up as India's third-highest run-getter in the World Test Championship cycle. The 37-year-old played 17 Tests and scored 864 runs at an average of 28.80, with the aid of three hundreds and four half-centuries.

Rohit registered scores of 103, 80 and 57 in the West Indies. He struggled in South Africa but notched up two hundreds and a fifty in the five-match home series against England. Since his century against England in Dharamsala, Rohit has only one fifty in 15 innings, which came against New Zealand in Bengaluru. He had a highest of 23 against Bangladesh and 10 against Australia in BGT 2024-25.

---

#4 KL Rahul

KL Rahul had a mixed BGT 2024-25. (Image Credits: Getty Images)

Although KL Rahul remained inconsistent with the willow in WTC 2023-25, he narrowly pipped Virat Kohli in the list because of some impressive batting efforts overseas. The right-hander played 11 Tests, scoring 615 runs at an average of 34.16, with one hundred and four fifties.

The 32-year-old scored a high-class 101 against South Africa in Centurion. He also scored 86 against England in Hyderabad and 68 against Bangladesh in Kanpur. Rahul was dropped after one poor Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. He started the Australia tour on an impressive note, but ended up scoring only two half-centuries and finished the Test series with an average of 30.67.

---

#3 Rishabh Pant

Having recovered from his injuries sustained during the horrific car accident in December 2022, keeper-batter Rishabh Pant made a comeback to Test cricket in September 2024 during the home series against Bangladesh. He ended up playing 10 Tests in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, scoring 677 runs at an average of 37.61, with the aid of one hundred and four fifties.

Pant scored 109 against Bangladesh in Chennai in his comeback Test, batting as if he had never been away. The southpaw was dismissed for 99 against New Zealand in Bengaluru and registered scores of 60 & 64 against the Kiwis in Mumbai. The 27-year-old got a number of starts in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but ended up with only one half-century, which came in the last Test in Sydney.

---

#2 Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill had a forgettable tour of Australia and struggled in the two-match series in South Africa as well. However, he still finds himself in second place among India's best batters in the 2023-25 WTC cycle. This is an indication of how poorly India have fared with the willow over the last two years.

Gill played 16 Tests in the 2023-25 WTC cycle, scoring 972 runs at an average of 37.38, with three hundreds and as many fifties to his name. The elegant right-handed batter impressed in the home series against England, scoring 452 runs in nine innings at an average of 56.50. He hit hundreds in Visakhapatnam and Dharamsala and was dismissed for 91 in Rajkot.

The 25-year-old also scored 119* against Bangladesh in Chennai and 90 against New Zealand in Mumbai. However, he managed only 93 runs in five innings in BGT 2024-25, averaging 18.60 with a best of 31.

---

#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal was India’s best batter in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. (Image Credits: Getty Images)

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was India's best batter in the 2023-25 WTC cycle by some distance. He played 19 matches and amassed 1,798 runs at an average of 52.88, with four hundreds and 10 fifties to his credit.

The 23-year-old scored a memorable 171 on Test debut against West Indies in Roseau. After a tough series in South Africa, he was in brilliant form against England at home. Jaiswal won the Player of the Series for totaling 712 runs in nine innings at an average of 89, which included double hundreds in consecutive Tests.

After an impressive home series against Bangladesh, he had a mixed run as India were drubbed 3-0 by New Zealand. The southpaw scored 190 runs in six innings. There were some question marks over Jaiswal after he was dismissed for a duck in the first innings against Australia in Perth. The opener, however, scored a brilliant ton in the second essay and hit two 80s in Melbourne.