India qualified for the ICC World Test Champinoship final on Monday thanks to the result of the match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Christchurch in which the hosts defeated the visitors on the final ball on Day 5.
India had to beat Australia in the final match of the BGT 2023 or needed New Zealand to defeat Sri Lanka or even draw the first Test in Christchurch to qualify for the WTC Final.
The Kiwis did India a favour by beating the Lankans thanks to Kane Williamson's brilliant hundred. This happened before the India-Australia Ahmedabad Test ended in a draw.
While India were busy batting on the field with Australia in the Ahmedabad Test on Day 5, Williamson was leading New Zealand to an improbable win thousands of miles away.
India coach Rahul Dravid revealed that they were watching the Christchurch Test as well in the dressing room and keeping tabs on the match proceedings.
"We did have an eye on the New Zealand-Sri Lanka game. It was lunch time for us, so were following. We just qualified at lunchtime today. I wasn't counting my chickens before they hatched," Dravid said after the match.
India-Australia play out high-scoring draw
The fourth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia ended in a draw on the fifth day in Ahmedabad with the hosts taking the four-match series 2-1.
Australia were trailing by 91 runs in the second innings which they knocked off in the first session on Day 5 and batted for over 78 overs in their final outing to reach 175 for 2 before the captains decided to shake hands and end the match.
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