India beat Australia in the ICC Cricket Rankings to claim the top spot across all formats, and then...

 

India became the top team across all formats thanks to their impressive performance against Australia in Nagpur. But, the celebrations were short-lived.

On 15 February, India overtook Pat Cummins' Australia to regain the top spot in the ICC Test rankings, making them the top-ranked team in all three formats of the game. India, which had already established itself as the best T20 team, whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 in January to regain the top spot in ODIs.

But. This achievement was temporary, as soon after, India returned to second place in the Test rankings, trailing only Australia. In the Test rankings, India (115) is 11 ratings points behind Australia (126).

After his eight-wicket haul against Australia in Nagpur, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin moved up to second in the rankings for men's Test bowlers.

Ashwin ensured that India completed a surprise victory by taking 5/37 in the second innings before tea on the third day followed by 3/42 in the second innings. The 36-year-old veteran off-spinner is in contention to regain the top spot for the first time since 2017 as he trails Cummins by 21 rating points.


Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja won the player of the match award in the first match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. This helped Jadeja, who was out for nearly five months with a knee injury, reach the 16th spot.

Jadeja did most of the damage on the first day with 5/47, including the iconic wickets of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, while Ashwin improved in the final session of the Test, then in the second Australian innings, Jadeja took over. 2/34. Australia's team was dismissed for just 91 runs.

The spin duo troubled Australia in the first Test, sharing 15 wickets between them as India won by an innings of 132 runs inside three days. Jasprit Bumrah, who has been out of action since September due to a stress fracture in his lower back, is fifth in Test cricket.


Rohit Sharma has been rewarded in the Test batting rankings after scoring a match-defining century in Nagpur. He has climbed two places to reach the eighth position. Rohit came to the crease after Australia's first innings ended on a total of 177 runs. With an assured 120, he turned the wicket into something that looked almost manageable and set the tone for the rest of the game.

Rohit, with 786 points) is well behind Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant (789), the only other Indian batsman in the top 10. Pant, who will be out indefinitely after his horrific car accident, has been kept. Seventh.

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne continues to top the batsmen's list, sitting comfortably at number one with 921 points. After him comes the number of Steve Smith (897) and Babar Azam (862).

The second Test between India and Australia will be played in New Delhi from 17 February.