India's been #1 since 2016 | Can they make this reign one to remember?

[shantanu]

Look you can look st this from a biased point of view or take a step back and see it for what it is.

India has screwed themselves up in terms rankings and that is a fact.
To give an example, Pakistan beating the Aussies in the UAE and destroying England in the UAE and not being beaten in England has an impact on the others nations results and hence position in the table.

India refusing to play Pakistan home and away is crucial and so the current position starting as back as 2016 is rubbish.

Doesn’t matter where Pakistan are in the standings, they have lost just two home series in the last 10 years, beaten Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and have only lost to the Aussies and Safies away.

So drop this thread in the rubbish bin and get over it

It is obvious that the final scores for teams and therefore the relative rankings are interconnected. That however does not mean that the team at the top of the rankings does not deserve it.

If we were to extrapolate your logic then Newzealand not playing Ireland could negate the authenticity of the top ranked team (whichever it may be) at any point of time. Therefore means anymore ever in terms of rankings.

India in the last three years would have blown away pak in any condition since they have been and it deservedly gets reflected in the relative rankings.

You can put your logic in the bin now.

 

[IMMY69]

It is obvious that the final scores for teams and therefore the relative rankings are interconnected. That however does not mean that the team at the top of the rankings does not deserve it.

If we were to extrapolate your logic then Newzealand not playing Ireland could negate the authenticity of the top ranked team (whichever it may be) at any point of time. Therefore means anymore ever in terms of rankings.

India in the last three years would have blown away pak in any condition since they have been and it deservedly gets reflected in the relative rankings.

You can put your logic in the bin now.

Rankings are flawed.
Nonsense rubbish.

Please stop the nonsense

 

[jnaveen1980]

In order to maintain the ranking at no.1 for long period you need a strong backup squad as injuries are bound to happen. Let us not foreget during the period of 1980s, 2000s there were not much of T20 games, T20 leagues. So work load is significantly higher and it leads to injuries. You need a solid backup squad. I don't think India is quiet there yet. Take away Bhumrah and Shami. India will struggle. They will largely rely on other teams losing to each other to maintain the ranking. To be a real no.1 you have to beat oppositions convincingly home and abroad. Indian spin is also less effective overseas. Hope Bhuvaneswar upgrades his game to be the leader of the attack in the absence of Shami/Bumrah.

 

[tyron_woodley]

rahat ali
imran khan jnr
zulfiqar
yasir shah

yea no. this attack isn't beating kohli's india. yea they had misbah and younis but india would still wreck them comfortably with their world class bowling attack plus batting depth.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Rankings are flawed.
Nonsense rubbish.

Please stop the nonsense

just because pakistan is mediocre right now doesnt mean rankings are flawed. Rankings for test cricket are actually quite accurate.

 

[tyron_woodley]

In order to maintain the ranking at no.1 for long period you need a strong backup squad as injuries are bound to happen. Let us not foreget during the period of 1980s, 2000s there were not much of T20 games, T20 leagues. So work load is significantly higher and it leads to injuries. You need a solid backup squad. I don't think India is quiet there yet. Take away Bhumrah and Shami. India will struggle. They will largely rely on other teams losing to each other to maintain the ranking. To be a real no.1 you have to beat oppositions convincingly home and abroad. Indian spin is also less effective overseas. Hope Bhuvaneswar upgrades his game to be the leader of the attack in the absence of Shami/Bumrah.

you mean away from home. No bumrah or shami at home would make no difference. india would still make mince meat out of all these top teams Away from home I agree without those 2 it will be hard to win but that's the case with every great team anyway.

take away ponting and mcgrath, australia wouldn't have won Jack. Actually just take out mcgrath alone.
take away dale steyn and kalis , south africa wouldn't have won much. Like I said earlier, just take steyn out and that alone makes a huge difference.
take away imran khan and say miandad, pakistan wouldn't have won much.

if anything they are playing more games now due to the advent of t20. India in particular plays a lot more compared to the 80s.

 

[Hitman]

just because pakistan is mediocre right now doesnt mean rankings are flawed. Rankings for test cricket are actually quite accurate.

You're being too kind.

 

[Bhaijaan]

2 tests in NZ will be a good challenge for the best in the world

 

[deep82]

India will maintain No.1 in test cricket till 2021 ( 5 consecutive years) and will play the first test championship final. This alone will destroy all troll arguments. No team can be No.1 for 5 years without playing excellent solid all round cricket.

 

[King_Kohli]

No. 1 Test team at the end of ICC annual year:

2010 : India
2011 : India
2012 : England
2013 : South Africa
2014 : South Africa
2015 : South Africa
2016 : Australia
2017 : India
2018 : India
2019 : India
2020 : India
2021 : India

 

[OMB]

India remain on top of MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test team rankings

The ICC World Test Championship finalists India, New Zealand remain the top two teams in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings after the annual update.

Other World Test Championship finalists New Zealand only one point behind; England overtake Australia to third place in annual Test rankings update


India have gained one rating point for an aggregate of 121 and New Zealand are only one point behind after gaining two points in Thursday’s update, which eliminates results from 2017-18.

India’s 2-1 win over Australia and 3-1 win over England over the past year and New Zealand’s 2-0 series wins over the West Indies and Pakistan have helped them keep ahead of the pack.

The latest update, which rates all matches played since May 2020 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, sees England overtake Australia to third position as England’s 4-0 defeat to Australia in 2017-18 has dropped from the rankings.

Pakistan have gained three points but remain in fifth position while the West Indies, who beat Bangladesh 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Sri Lanka in series played this year, have moved from eighth to sixth, their best position since 2013.

South Africa are in seventh position, equaling their lowest in Test ranking history, while Sri Lanka are next on the list. Bangladesh have lost five points but remain in ninth position while Zimbabwe have gained eight points but are still nine points behind Bangladesh.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 13 May 2021, following the annual update):

Rank Team Points

1 India 121 (+1)

2 New Zealand 120 (+2)

3 England 109 (+3)

4 Australia 108 (-5)

5 Pakistan 94 (+3)

6 West Indies 84 (+3)

7 South Africa 80 (-9)

8 Sri Lanka 78 (-5)

9 Bangladesh 46 (-5)

10 Zimbabwe 35 (+8)

*Afghanistan and Ireland have Test status but have not played enough matches to figure on the rankings table

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/2139111

 

[Markhor]

India remain on top of MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test team rankings

The ICC World Test Championship finalists India, New Zealand remain the top two teams in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings after the annual update.

Other World Test Championship finalists New Zealand only one point behind; England overtake Australia to third place in annual Test rankings update


India have gained one rating point for an aggregate of 121 and New Zealand are only one point behind after gaining two points in Thursday’s update, which eliminates results from 2017-18.

India’s 2-1 win over Australia and 3-1 win over England over the past year and New Zealand’s 2-0 series wins over the West Indies and Pakistan have helped them keep ahead of the pack.

The latest update, which rates all matches played since May 2020 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, sees England overtake Australia to third position as England’s 4-0 defeat to Australia in 2017-18 has dropped from the rankings.

Pakistan have gained three points but remain in fifth position while the West Indies, who beat Bangladesh 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Sri Lanka in series played this year, have moved from eighth to sixth, their best position since 2013.

South Africa are in seventh position, equaling their lowest in Test ranking history, while Sri Lanka are next on the list. Bangladesh have lost five points but remain in ninth position while Zimbabwe have gained eight points but are still nine points behind Bangladesh.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 13 May 2021, following the annual update):

Rank Team Points

1 India 121 (+1)

2 New Zealand 120 (+2)

3 England 109 (+3)

4 Australia 108 (-5)

5 Pakistan 94 (+3)

6 West Indies 84 (+3)

7 South Africa 80 (-9)

8 Sri Lanka 78 (-5)

9 Bangladesh 46 (-5)

10 Zimbabwe 35 (+8)

*Afghanistan and Ireland have Test status but have not played enough matches to figure on the rankings table

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/2139111

Well done to the Windies, top six in all formats should be their goal.

No need for fantasies about recreating the 70s and 80s. If they can beat one of South Africa or Pakistan this summer that'll be more progress.

SAF and SRL are in a dismal state.

 

[MP2011]

Decline of SA is really sad to see. Since the time I've seen them being readmitted into international cricket, they've always been top-4 or thereabouts at least. So no.7 is lowest of lows for them!

 

[Farabi]

you mean away from home. No bumrah or shami at home would make no difference. india would still make mince meat out of all these top teams Away from home I agree without those 2 it will be hard to win but that's the case with every great team anyway.

take away ponting and mcgrath, australia wouldn't have won Jack. Actually just take out mcgrath alone.
take away dale steyn and kalis , south africa wouldn't have won much. Like I said earlier, just take steyn out and that alone makes a huge difference.
take away imran khan and say miandad, pakistan wouldn't have won much.

if anything they are playing more games now due to the advent of t20. India in particular plays a lot more compared to the 80s.

Yes, India did well in Aus in recent series. But, I won’t get carried away with statements like India will make mince meat away. India did not compete in NZ and Eng in last away tour, and lost badly to SA too. So unless that happens, it’s just conjecture.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Well done to the Windies, top six in all formats should be their goal.

No need for fantasies about recreating the 70s and 80s. If they can beat one of South Africa or Pakistan this summer that'll be more progress.

SAF and SRL are in a dismal state.

It would be an embarrassment for Pakistan if we lose to Windies away. We really should beat them 2-1 or 2-0.

 

[Titan24]

It would be an embarrassment for Pakistan if we lose to Windies away. We really should beat them 2-1 or 2-0.

WI was able to beat Eng 2-1 at home in 2019 so its not going to be an easy series. Eng was a higher ranked side than Pak is currently is.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

WI was able to beat Eng 2-1 at home in 2019 so its not going to be an easy series. Eng was a higher ranked side than Pak is currently is.

Forget England. They have always been WI's bunnies no matter how poor the WI team was. India, Aus, NZ always thrash WI, and SL often beats/draws with them. SA thrashes them too.

Pakistan also beat WI 2-1 last time around, so a series win should be expected.

 

[hitthestump]

The Test table surely doesn't lie. Top 4 miles ahead of everyone else, Pakistan 'best of the rest', everyone else doing pretty badly. So many series are completely predictable now.

 

[MenInG]

NEW DELHI: Indian cricket team's head coach Ravi Shastri has praised his boys for showing grit and determination to finish as the top-ranked Test team after the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the team rankings on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, Shastri wrote: "This team has shown steely resolve & unwavering focus to be crowned No. 1. It is something the boys have earned fair & square. Rules changed midway but #TeamIndia overcame every hurdle along the way. My boys played tough cricket in tough times. Super proud of this bindass bunch."

The ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finalists India and New Zealand finished as the top two teams in the ICC Men's Test team rankings after the annual update was released on Thursday.

India remained the number one Test side after the annual update of the ICC team rankings, released on Thursday. India head the table with a rating of 121 having accumulated 2914 points from 24 matches. Virat Kohli's men are closely followed by their World Test Championship final opponents, New

India gained one rating point for an aggregate of 121 and New Zealand was only one point behind after gaining two points in Thursday's update.

India's 2-1 win over Australia and 3-1 win over England over the past year and New Zealand's 2-0 series wins over the West Indies and Pakistan helped them keep ahead of the pack.

The latest update, which rates all matches played since May 2020 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent, also saw England overtake Australia to the third position as England's 4-0 defeat to Australia in 2017-18 was dropped from the rankings.

Pakistan gained three points but remained in the fifth position while the West Indies, who beat Bangladesh 2-0 and drew 0-0 with Sri Lanka in the series played this year, moved from eighth to sixth, their best position since 2013.

South Africa were in the seventh position, equaling their lowest in Test-ranking history, while Sri Lanka were next on the list.

Bangladesh lost five points but remained in the ninth position while Zimbabwe gained eight points but were still nine points behind Bangladesh.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...cricket-ravi-shastri/articleshow/82624176.cms

 

[Markhor]

Forget England. They have always been WI's bunnies no matter how poor the WI team was. India, Aus, NZ always thrash WI, and SL often beats/draws with them. SA thrashes them too.

Pakistan also beat WI 2-1 last time around, so a series win should be expected.

Pakistan should be favourites but the pitches have changed since 2017 in the Caribbean to support their fast bowlers. The surfaces for the series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2018, and England in 2019 were quite lively.

However COVID and the reusing of venues to limit travel may mean we see flatter pitches like in the recent Sri Lanka series that ended 0-0 in Antigua.

WI themselves are stronger since 2017 where they had an awful middle order with Shimron Hetmyer making his debut and duds against pace like Vishaul Singh making the XI while Darren Bravo was sidelined by the previous chairman. Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers look better prospects with both being instrumental in WI recent uptick of form.

Meanwhile the bowling is strengthened with the addition of Kemar Roach who has an excellent record to left handers. There's also a change in captaincy - Jason Holder was a tactically defensive dud similar to Azhar Ali whereas Kraigg Brathwaite seems to be more adept. If they prepare bouncy pitches in Jamaica and target us with short pitched bowling as they did at the 2019 World Cup, it could be a very interesting series.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Pakistan should be favourites but the pitches have changed since 2017 in the Caribbean to support their fast bowlers. The surfaces for the series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2018, and England in 2019 were quite lively.

However COVID and the reusing of venues to limit travel may mean we see flatter pitches like in the recent Sri Lanka series that ended 0-0 in Antigua.

WI themselves are stronger since 2017 where they had an awful middle order with Shimron Hetmyer making his debut and duds against pace like Vishaul Singh making the XI while Darren Bravo was sidelined by the previous chairman. Nkrumah Bonner and Kyle Mayers look better prospects with both being instrumental in WI recent uptick of form.

Meanwhile the bowling is strengthened with the addition of Kemar Roach who has an excellent record to left handers. There's also a change in captaincy - Jason Holder was a tactically defensive dud similar to Azhar Ali whereas Kraigg Brathwaite seems to be more adept. If they prepare bouncy pitches in Jamaica and target us with short pitched bowling as they did at the 2019 World Cup, it could be a very interesting series.

Nicely written. Don't see the jaimaica pitch being a bouncy one tbh especially with COVID bubbles etc. Like you said. I think we should look to win the series. We definitely have the upper hand as long it's not too bouncy.