New Delhi: After today’s annual update of the International Cricket Council Test team rankings, India lags behind Australia by six points and now stands at the second spot on the ranking list.
The ICC ranking system works on a four-year cycle, which means the results from 2012-13 will no longer be included in the calculations, whereas the outcome from 2013-14 will be weighted at 50 per cent.
India now leads Pakistan, placed third in the rankings, by just one point. The annual update has proven to be beneficial for Pakistan as their 3-0 defeat against South Africa in 2012-13 no longer counts, and the impact of their 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka has been reduced to 50 per cent.
South Africa has suffered the most as their ranking has dropped from third to sixth spot after losing 17 points. This is because the Proteas’ victories over England, Australia, New Zealand and Pakistan in 2012-13 no longer count.
The annual update of the ICC Test team rankings has also affected West Indies to a great extent. Though they have managed to retain their eighth position on the list, their ratings have dropped from 76 to 65 points. This has reduced the difference between the ratings between West Indies and ninth-ranked Bangladesh, from 29 to merely eight points.
Here are the current Test team rakings after the annual update.
| Rank | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | Australia | 32 | 3765 | 118 |
| 2 | India | 20 | 2238 | 112 |
| 3 | Pakistan | 20 | 2227 | 111 |
| 4 | England | 32 | 3370 | 105 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 25 | 2449 | 98 |
| 6 | South Africa | 22 | 2015 | 92 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 24 | 2113 | 88 |
| 8 | West Indies | 21 | 1374 | 65 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 12 | 687 | 57 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 4 | 48 | 12 |
