WTC 2023-25 cycle: Yashasvi Jaiswal tops charts for highest run-getters

From the West Indies' heist at The Gabba to India's brilliant fightback at home against Ben Stokes' England, the third edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) has already thrown up some tight contests and unexpected results.

At this stage, Rohit Sharma's India are atop the WTC table with a point percentage of 68.51. Australia and New Zealand are placed second and third place respectively.

With the WTC set to enter a temporary hiatus until after the completion of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in June, we look at who is leading the way in a host of key statistical categories in this edition of the World Test Championship.

India's rising star Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made his debut in this cycle of the WTC, leads the runs charts with 1,028 runs at an average of 68.53. The majority of runs for the opener came in the five-game Test series against England, in which he scored a whopping 712 runs, including two double tons.

Close in on the second place is ICC Men's Test Cricketer of the Year 2023, Usman Khawaja with 943 runs. England's Zak Crawley (887 runs) has been impressive in this iteration of the WTC and sits in third place.

Reigning World Test Championship winners Australia lead the mark when it comes to the highest wicket-takers in this ongoing cycle of Test action.

Pacer Josh Hazlewood is the only player with more than 50 wickets so far. His best figures during this run came in a match-winning 9/79 against the West Indies in Adelaide earlier this year.

He is followed by fellow Australian fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc, who are evenly placed at 48. Nathan Lyon is fourth, while India's Ravichandran Ashwin sits in fifth place.

New Zealand left-hander Rachin Ravindra leads the list when it comes to the highest scores in the championship. The southpaw is at the top with 240 in the opening Test against South Africa in Mount Maunganui.

Jaiswal's sublime back-to-back double tons against England in Vizag and Rajkot occupy second and third places on this list, while Pakistan's Saud Shakeel and Abdullah Shafique sit at the fourth and fifth place courtesy of their rich returns against Sri Lanka in July 2023.

Tom Hartley's stunning 7/62 that helped England beat India in Hyderabad is the best performance by a bowler thus far. Matt Henry's 7/67 and Shamar Joseph's 7/68 are the second and third-best efforts. Both of these came against Australia.

While Australia overcame Henry's brilliance by three wickets, Joseph's rampage in the fourth innings led to a rare defeat for the Aussies at The Gabba.

Australia's Steve Smith has taken some brilliant catches to lead this list, with 26 catches from merely 23 innings. His Ashes rival, Joe Root sits closely behind at 21 catches. Ben Duckett and Agha Salman follow in third and fourth place, whereas six players are tied for the fifth spot.

In the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester in July 2023, Zak Crawley's 189 guided England to 592 in merely 107.4 overs. It remains the highest total in this edition of WTC.

In the same month, Pakistan posted 576/5 decl. against Sri Lanka, scored at a brisk rate of more than four runs an over. This is the second-highest total this cycle.

In the recently concluded Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, the latter posted 531, which was the highest Test innings total without a century. This is the third-highest score of the cycle. (ANI)