India consolidate top position in Test rankings

MUMBAI: India once again stamped their authority in the ICC Test rankings as the Asian country increased its lead over South Africa from four to thirteen to remain the top ranked side with 125 points.The annual update does not include the results for the 2014-15 season, but equal weightage has been given for 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. After the conclusion of the home summer and having won Test series against India and Australia, South Africa are comfortably placed second in the rankings despite losing five points from their previous update.While Australia and New Zealand swapped their slots, Bangladesh have leaped ahead of the Windies, who for the first time are languishing at the ninth position in the Test rankings table.Sri Lanka stayed firm at the sixth position having lost one point, while Pakistan slipped to seventh after losing two points. The ICC Test rankings table will have its new additions in Ireland and Afghanistan following their Test debut (later this year) after having attained the Full Membership status in 2017.Afghanistan are set to embark their Test journey against India in Bengaluru (14-18 June), while Ireland will face off Pakistan in their first ever Test at Malahide in Dublin (11-15 May).ICC Test Team Rankings following the annual update:Rank Team Points1 India 125 (+4)2 South Africa 112 (-5)3 Australia 106 (+4)4 New Zealand 102 (-)5 England 98 (+1)6 Sri Lanka 94 (-1)7 Pakistan 86 (-2)8 Bangladesh 75 (+4)9 Windies 67 (-5)10 Zimbabwe 2 (+1).

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