India stretch South Africa lead at top of Test rankings

Bangladesh push West Indies to No. 9 for the first time

India continued to sit atop the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test team rankings following the latest update yesterday, with South Africa at No. 2 and Australia at the No. 3 positions.

According to an ICC release, India have actually stretched their lead over South Africa from four to 13 points after the results from 2014-15 were removed from the equation and those from 2015-16 and 2016-17 being weighted at 50 per cent.

In another major development, Bangladesh have moved above the West Indies to No. 8, pushing the one-time dominant force in the game to No. 9 for the first time.

Elsewhere, Australia have gained four points to get to 106, pushing New Zealand down from No. 3 to No. 4, even though the Kiwis earned themselves $200,000 for being in third place at the last cutoff date on April 3. India and South Africa, meanwhile, got $1 million (Dh3.67 million) and $500,000 respectively.

For India, who played four Tests in the 2014-15 season — losing 0-2 in Australia — and had earlier lost the five-Test tour of England 1-3 in 2014, the move up was expected following an excellent run since, highlighted by the 10 wins in 13 Tests in the 2016-17 season.

As for Bangladesh and the Windies, the records since the start of 2015 haven’t been too different, with Bangladesh winning three of their 18 Tests and losing 10, while the Windies have won five and lost 18 of their 28 Tests.

England, who have gained a point, Sri Lanka, who have lost one, and Pakistan, down by two points, fill the positions between New Zealand and Bangladesh, with Zimbabwe propping up the table with two points — up by one — in the latest update.

By the time the next annual update comes in, Afghanistan and Ireland will have joined the existing 10 teams to make it a 12-team table.