According to CricTracker, former India head coach Rahul Dravid has expressed confidence that India can still reach the World Test Championship final, even though the team currently sits outside the top spots in the standings.
India gave their campaign a lift with a 165-run win over Sri Lanka in the series opener in Galle, taking 12 points from the result. That victory pushed India's tally to 64 points from 10 Tests, with a Points Percentage of 53.33, placing them fifth overall. Dravid pointed to the depth and quality within the current squad as the reason he is not ready to rule India out, saying "you're not going to write them off" at this stage of the cycle.
Seven Tests remain in India's WTC campaign. The team's next assignment is a two-match series in New Zealand this November, a tour Dravid flagged as especially demanding. He noted that several of India's younger players have little experience of New Zealand conditions, and stressed the importance of the squad staying injury-free through the coming months. He also pointed out that India will be without the experience of past tourists like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara for this trip, having lost their previous series there 2-0.
After New Zealand, India host Australia in a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy from January. Dravid described this series as a big opportunity, noting that Australia have not won a Test series on Indian soil since 2004 and will be highly motivated to end that run under Pat Cummins.
Meanwhile, India's ongoing second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo is going well, with the hosts trailing India's first-innings total by 238 runs heading into Day 4.