WTC 2023 final: India pips Australia to become No.1 ranked Test team ahead of World Test Championship final
New Delhi, May 2: The Indian Test team 'dethroned' the Australian Test team to become the number 1 Test nation ahead of their upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final.
Australia's reign at the top of the Men's Test Rankings finally came to an end after 15 months with India going past the Aussies ahead of next month's ICC World Test Championship Final. India taking on Australia in Test cricket has quickly become one of the most exciting rivalries in recent history and the recent rankings reversal sets up the World Test Championship final perfectly, with the two sides set to write yet another chapter at Ultimate Test on 7 June at The Oval.
Prior to the annual rankings update, Australia were at the top with 122 points with India trailing them by three points (119).
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The annual rankings consider all series completed since May 2020, with series completed before May 2022 weighted at 50 per cent and all subsequent series weighted at 100 per cent.
As a result, 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.
For India, their 2-0 defeat against New Zealand in 2019/20 was no longer in consideration for the rankings, thus giving them a two-point boost from 119 to 121.
Australia rose to the summit of the Test rankings under Pat Cummins' first series as captain as they walloped England 4-0 in the home Ashes in January 2022. A month prior, India themselves were at the top of the rankings before a 2-0 loss to South Africa saw them lose the top spot.
England's upheaval in form under the captaincy of Ben Stokes helps them close the gap to second spot from 13 points to just two. The weightage of their 4-0 Ashes defeat and the 1-0 series defeat away against West Indies have been reduced as well. The rest of the rankings remain unchanged.
- With inputs from agencies
