India has regained its position as the No.1 Test cricket team in the world, overtaking Australia in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) latest rankings update. The update, which dropped results from the 2019-2020 season and reflected all series completed since May 2020, saw India’s rating points move up from 119 to 121. Australia, on the other hand, slipped from 122 to 116 rating points, as their home series wins over Pakistan and New Zealand in 2019-20 no longer counted towards their ranking.
The rankings update was based on the new system, which assessed series completed prior to May 2022 at 50 percent and subsequent series at 100 percent. India was last at the top for a month in December 2021, while Australia had been the top-ranked Test side since January 2022, after a 4-0 series win over England helped them overtake New Zealand.
England remained in third place in the rankings, but the gap between them and the second-placed team was reduced from 13 to two rating points, owing to some consistent performances in recent months as well as reduced weightage of their 4-0 Ashes defeat and a 1-0 defeat in the West Indies.
In the ICC Men’s T20I Team Rankings, India consolidated its position at the top, increasing its lead over second-placed England from six to eight points. New Zealand has overtaken Pakistan and South Africa to take the third position.
Hong Kong and the USA made the biggest ratings jumps, moving up three places each to 18th and 22nd, respectively. Oman and Papua New Guinea both dropped two places each to 20th and 21st, while Singapore slipped six places to 36th.
The ICC Men’s Test rankings are updated after each series, while the T20I rankings are updated at the end of each tournament. With India set to face Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship at The Oval in June, there is still everything to play for.