An 87-year-old record for the number of spectators during the Australia-India Boxing Day Test match has been broken.
By the first session of the fifth day of the Australia and India Test match, 351,104 spectators had come to the arena to watch the match.
A Test match played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1937 was watched by 350,034 spectators at the Australia-England Boxing Day Test.
In addition, 90,293 spectators came to the Pakistan-India match at the MCG in the T20 World Cup 2022.
The Boxing Day Test match is mostly popular in Australia, which traditionally begins on December 26 after Christmas, where the host team competes against the visiting team at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
South Africa qualified for the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) by defeating Pakistan in the Centurion Test, after which the other finalist team will face India and Australia.
On Sunday, South Africa defeated Pakistan by two wickets in a thrilling match in the first Test of the two-match series to take a 1-0 lead in the series and also made it to the final of the World Test Championship for the first time.
Before the start of the two-match series against Pakistan, South Africa needed to win only one match to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
However, after defeating Pakistan in the first Test, the result of the second Test match of the series will not have any impact on South Africa as the Proteas have already qualified for the World Test Championship final to be held at Lord’s in June next year.
South Africa is currently first on the World Test Championship points table, Australia is second, and India is third.
After Pakistan’s defeat in the first Test, India and Australia are now in tough competition to make it to the final of the World Test Championship.
What will India or Australia have to do to qualify for the WTC final?
After the draw of the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India’s points average has come down from 57.29 to 55.88, while Australia’s points average is 58.89.
India has only one match left after the Melbourne Test, while Australia still has three games left.
Australia also has to play a 2-Test series against Sri Lanka after the series against India.
If India wins the Melbourne Test against Australia and the last Test of the series, which is to be held in Sydney, is won by Australia and the series is drawn 2-2, then India will complete its WTC cycle with 126 points and an average of 55.26 points.
However, Australia can then overtake India by drawing both Tests against Sri Lanka or by winning at least one of them and qualifying for the World Test Championship final.
The same situation will happen if Australia wins the Melbourne Test but loses in Sydney. The series must be tied 2-2 at the end.
If India draws the Melbourne Test and wins in Sydney, they will finish the WTC cycle with 130 points and an average of 57.01 points.
In this case, Australia will have to beat Sri Lanka 0-2 to qualify for the WTC final.
If India loses the Melbourne Test but manages to draw the Sydney Test, the Indian team will end its WTC cycle with 118 points. However, Australia can overtake them by the end of the series against Sri Lanka and go to the final.
If India draws both the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, they will finish the WTC cycle with 122 points and an average of 53.50 points.
In this case, Australia will have to win at least one match against Sri Lanka to surpass India and qualify for the final.
Given the current situation, Australia has a better chance than India to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, easily get out of the if-but situation and play the final of the World Test Championship once again.