India overtakes Australia to become No. 1 Test side ahead of WTC final

India pipped Australia to become the No.1 team in Men’s Test Rankings following the annual update, that drops results from the 2019-20 season and reflects all series completed since May 2020, released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday. Australia’s reign at the top of the Men’s Test Rankings comes to an end after 15 months with India going past the Aussies ahead of next month’s ICC World Test Championship Final. India currently sits at the top of the ladder with 121 points, with Australia in the second spot with 116 points. Prior to the annual rankings update, Australia were at the top with 122 points with India trailing them by three points (119). England remain in third position but the gap between them and the second placed side is 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. The annual rankings consider all series completed since May 2020, with series completed before May 2022 weighted at 50 percent and all subsequent series weighted at 100 percent, according to the ICC release. India’s rating points have moved up from 119 to 121 as their 2-0 defeat to New Zealand in March 2020 no longer figures in the rankings, which assesses series completed prior to May 2022 at 50 per cent and subsequent series at 100 per cent. Australia’s home series wins over Pakistan (2-0) and New Zealand (3-0) in 2019/20 were no longer in consideration, while their 4-0 win over England in 2021/22 has its weighting halved. Consequently, Australia’s ratings dropped from 121 to 116. Australia, who take on India in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023 at The Oval from 7 June, were the top-ranked Test side since January 2022 while India were last at the top for a month in December 2021.