ICC Test Match Rankings: Top 5 longest streaks as the No. 1 team

3) South Africa: 21 months

Graeme Smith led the South African team remarkably

South Africa feature in this list for the second time, having reigned supreme in a 21 month period August 2012 and May 2014. They only lost the No. 1 ranking to Australia for a 3-month period before regaining it in July. They rose to the top beating England away in 2012, before slipping up against the Aussies at home in 2014.

This South African team was arguably one of their most-talented ever. They were ably captained by Graeme Smith, who had the likes of Hashim Amla, AB De Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to call upon.

As the No. 1 ranked team, they performed superbly with wins over Australia away and home victories over New Zealand, Pakistan and India.