India finish the season as the number 1 Test team; South Africa finish second

Virat Kohli received the Test mace from Sunil Gavaskar after the fourth Test in Dharamsala

After rain played spoilsport on day 5 of the third Test against New Zealand, South Africa managed to save the match and win the three-match series 1-0. With this win, South Africa leapt past Australia in the ICC team rankings in Tests and moved to the second position.

After losing the four-match Test series to India 2-1, Australia needed their arch-rivals New Zealand to win the third Test to stay in the second position at the April 1 cut-off date. After the draw in the third Test in Hamilton, the Proteas got 2 rating points and replaced Australia in the second spot with 109 points compared to the third-placed Aussies’ 108 points.

As the New Zealand-South Africa series was the last series to finish before the 1 April annual cut-off, India, with 122 points, ended the period as the number 1 ranked team and the Indian captain Virat Kohli received the Test mace and pocketed $1 million for ending the season as the number 1 Test team. South Africa will earn $500K for being the second-ranked team, while Australia has collected $200K. England will receive $100K for finishing fourth.

In the 12-month period that began on 1 April 2016, India won a series in West Indies (2-0) followed by four consecutive series wins at home – New Zealand (3-0), England (4-0) and Bangladesh (1-0). Australia started the 2016-17 season as the No. 1 Test team before India took over the position after the third Test against West Indies in August.

India stayed at the top for just 6 days as Pakistan replaced India as the No. 1 team by beating England in the fourth Test. A couple of months later, India reclaimed the top spot after a massive win in the second Test against New Zealand in October and finished the season at the same position.

Extra cover: The two-year journey from No.7 to No.1 has been surreal, says Virat Kohli

Pakistan ended the season in the fifth position with 97 points followed by New Zealand with 96 points, Sri Lanka (90 points), West Indies (69 points), Bangladesh (66 points) and Zimbabwe (5 points).

The annual update of the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings will next be carried out on 1 May with the series results from 2013-14 not to be included in the calculations and outcomes from the 2014-15 and 2015-16 series weighted at 50 percent.

ICC Test team rankings: