India are currently placed at the sixth position on the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with a points percentage (PCT) of 48.15. They have played nine Tests in the current cycle, winning four and losing as many—one of the games ended without a result.

The Men in Blue will now be competing in a one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting on Saturday, June 6. However, this match doesn't fall under the WTC, as Afghanistan are not ranked among the top nine teams allowed to participate in the ICC-organised event.

If India are to play the final next year, they will have to play some brilliant cricket in the upcoming red-ball matches.

However, head coach Gautam Gambhir isn't losing hope as he said that the team remains optimistic about their chances of qualifying for the summit clash.

“We are always optimistic. Till you have the opportunity to qualify for the World Test championship Final, you are always optimistic because we know the kind of quality we have and the kind of talent we have. I don’t think so there’s any reason not to believe that we cannot win the World Test Championship. And that is what not only me, but everyone in that dressing room will believe.

Yes, we can have one or bad series here and there, but we know the kind of talent we have and how much hunger is there in the dressing room,” Gambhir said while addressing the press conference ahead of the India Afghanistan Test match.

I think we have got enough talent to turn it around: Gambhir

During the last WTC cycle, India had finished third with nine wins, eight losses and two draws. In the current cycle, Shubman Gill has taken charge as the skipper of the side, following the retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

The team fared well in England and beat the West Indies. However, Gambhir admitted that the loss to South Africa at home was disappointing. He urged everyone to give more time to his players as they are not very experienced and the team is going through a transition phase.

“No, the phase is not at all long because the actual transition happened from England.

It’s been only nine Test matches and we were brilliant in England. We won against the West Indies. So when people are talking about transition, the actual transition happened after England. So if after nine Test matches, you feel it’s a long rope, I don’t agree with it. We all know how well this young team played in England and then we won against the West Indies," Gambhir said.

"Yes, loss in the two matches against South Africa, it hurts but then that’s what is going to happen with the transition. The consistency will be missed because these are young boys.

The majority of these boys have played less than 30 Test matches, which is still not a lot of experience. So for me, I don’t look for excuses. I don’t see that because we haven’t got a full strength team. I think we have got enough talent to turn it around and are very hopeful we will give us the best chance to win the World Test Championships,” he added.