Why Isn’t the Zimbabwe vs South Africa Test Series Part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27?. The Zimbabwe vs South Africa Test series is not included in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 because only matches between the nine full member nations selected for the current WTC cycle are counted towards the standings. Zimbabwe is not part of this cycle’s participating teams, and therefore, any Tests they play—including those against WTC nations like South Africa—are considered bilateral series outside the WTC framework.
Why the Zimbabwe vs South Africa Test Series Is Not Part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025–27
The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025–27 cycle has already kicked off with several bilateral Test series. However, the upcoming Zimbabwe vs South Africa series is not included in the WTC calendar. The reason is simple: only nine full-member nations are part of the WTC, and Zimbabwe is not among them.
The nine participating teams in the ICC WTC 2025–27 are South Africa, Australia, England, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the West Indies. Each team is scheduled to play six series over two years — three at home and three away. The top two teams, determined by win percentage, will advance to the final.
Following their Test assignment against Zimbabwe, South Africa will take part in a T20I tri-series featuring Zimbabwe and New Zealand. Their WTC campaign will begin later this year with a Test series against Pakistan.
During the 2025–27 WTC cycle, the Proteas are set to face India, Australia, Bangladesh, England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Earlier this month, South Africa defeated Australia in the final of the previous cycle (2023–25) to claim the ICC Test mace.
