Australia regain top spot in ICC Test Rankings as India slip to third

The Border Gavaskar Trophy, that is set to take place in December this year, has been spiced up ten-folds as the International Cricket Council (ICC), on Friday, announced the revised ICC Test Rankings, with Australia dethroning India to claim the top spot. The annual update sees results from the 2016/17 being wiped out and games from 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons given 50, 50 and 100 per cent preference respectively and thus, as a result, the Kangaroos, led by Tim Paine, have made the jump to the top spot.

While Australia, on the back of their Ashes triumph enjoyed a perfect home summer, winning all 5 of their matches, India, on the other hand, were whitewashed at the start of the calendar year by a strong New Zealand side. 

Team India’s whitewash at the hands of New Zealand also sees the Kiwis (115 points) overlap them (114 points). The latest update means that the top three sides in the ICC Test Rankings are separated by all but 2 points (Australia 116, New Zealand 115 and India 114). Incidentally, this is also the first time in almost four years that India have been dethroned from the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings, with them holding on to the spot since October 2016. 

Reflecting on the power shift, Australia coach Justin Langer expressed his joy over reclaiming the top spot after four long years but insisted that it was of foremost importance for the Aussies to beat India when the two sides clash with each other in a four-Test series later this year. 

"We recognise how fluid these rankings are, but at this time it was certainly nice to put a smile on our faces. We've got lots of work to do to get to be the team that we want to be, but hopefully over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field, but also off the field,” Langer told cricket.com.au.

"Certainly a goal for us has been the World Test Championship ... but ultimately, we have to beat India in India and we've got to beat them when they come back (to Australia). You can only judge yourself as being the best if you beat the best and we've got some really tough opposition to come."

The Aussies, meanwhile, are also top of the ICC T20I rankings with 278 points, followed by England (268) and India (266) at second and third place respectively.