"ICC trying to stay relevant in between IPL" - Fans erupt as India pip Australia to climb at the top of Test rankings ahead of WTC final

Team India eclipsed Australia to become the new World No.1 Test nation in the latest ICC rankings announced on Tuesday, May 2. The development comes weeks ahead of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be played between the two teams at the Oval in London next month.

Australia’s domination at the top of the Test rankings came to an end after 15 months following the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India won 2-1 at home.

They rose to the top of the rankings after registering a 4-0 win in the Ashes 2021/22 at home under new captain Pat Cummins.

Rohit Sharma and Co. now have 121 rating points, while Australia are placed second with 116 rating points.

It’s worth mentioning that the annual rankings released by the ICC have given 50 percent weightage to the series before May 2020 and full weightage to the subsequent series.

Fans on Twitter congratulated India for becoming the new World No.1 side and now want them to win the Test championship final. One user tweeted:

"Congratulations Team India, waiting 4 WTC now...best wishes."

Here are some of the other best Twitter reactions:

Apart from India and Australia, England are currently placed third following their sensational win record since the appointment of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendan McCullum last year.

---

Team India aim to win the ICC WTC final in second attempt

Team India will now be looking to win the World Test Championship (WTC) final in their second attempt after qualifying for back-to-back finals. They lost the last final against New Zealand by eight wickets under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.

However, a number of injuries have put Team India under the pump. They recently lost the services of the injured Shreyas Iyer, who was replaced by senior batter Ajinkya Rahane.

With hamstring and shoulder injuries, KL Rahul and Jaydev Unadkat are now doubtful for the WTC final. Meanwhile, Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav are under fitness clouds.

---

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Jaydev Unadkat.