reigning champions of the ICC World Test Championship Australia has taken the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test team rankings, surpassing India.
In the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings, Australia, who defeated India in the ICC World Test Championship final at The Oval last year, has taken back the top spot after the yearly update that removes results from the 2020–21 season and takes into account all series played since May 2021.
Australia now leads the standings with 124 rating points, while India, who lost their top spot, is only four points adrift and 15 points ahead of England, which is in third place. With 103 points, South Africa is the fourth team to score more than 100 points.
India’s decline was primarily caused by their 2020–21 2-1 series victory in Australia being removed from the rankings.The clubs placed third through ninth are still in the same order. There are currently just nine countries in the rankings because Afghanistan, Ireland, and Zimbabwe have not played enough Test matches. Zimbabwe has only played three Test matches in the last three years. To be listed on the rankings table, a team must participate in eight Test matches within a three-year period. Teams are still listed in the same manner, from third to ninth. With Zimbabwe having played just three Tests in the last three years, and Afghanistan and Ireland having not yet accrued enough Test experience, there are currently just nine countries ranked. Teams can only be on the rankings table if they have participated in eight Test matches over a three-year period.
Australia has moved up to second place in the T20I standings, one spot ahead of England, but seven points behind India, who lead with 264 rating points.
South Africa has jumped up two spots from their previous position of sixth to just two points behind England following the update. Similar to South Africa, New Zealand has 250 points, but it lags behind on fractions. The West Indies, on the other hand, have 249 points, meaning that only three points separate third-place England from the sixth-place West Indies.
In other changes, Scotland moved up to 12th place, surpassing Zimbabwe, and Pakistan fell two spots to seventh.