India, June 17 -- South Africa's freakish qualification to the World Test Championship (WTC) final and their subsequent upstaging of Australia at Lord's last week would have awakened team managements across the cricket sphere to the possibility of an unusual way to win the mace: where playing less means more.

On Tuesday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) declared the 2025-27 WTC cycle open retaining the prevailing percentage points system designed to minimise the impact of an uneven spread of matches among teams.

Basking in the glory of his newly acquired cult status, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma would acknowledge that retaining the title might be tougher. The Proteas will play 14 Tests instead of 12 with two of their home se...