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A series win over England by 4-1 helped India claim the top position in the ICC Men's Test Team Rankings, taking over Australia. After losing the first Test in Hyderabad by a close margin of 28 runs, India fought back in style to win the remaining four Tests against England. Wins in Vizag, Rajkot, Ranchi, and now Dharamsala have helped the side return to the top position in the ICC Test Team Rankings, as per ICC.
Their relentless display in the series has helped them overtake Australia. The side now has 122 rating points in the rankings table. Australia is second with 117 rating points, while England is at the third place with 111 rating points. India will remain at the top regardless of the outcome of the second New Zealand-Australia Test in Christchurch. The ICC World Test Championship 2023 winners Australia currently lead the two-Test series 1-0 following their 172-run victory in Wellington. With this, India is now at the summit of rankings in all three formats. They have 121 rating points in the ODI rankings, with Australia sitting a close second with 118 rating points. In the T20Is, India has 266 rating points, with England (256) at the second place. This was the scenario from September 2023 to January 2024, before India slipped to second place in Test Team Rankings after a drawn 1-1 series against South Africa. Australia overtook India at the top of the Test rankings, after sweeping the three-Test series at home against Pakistan. India is also at the top of the ICC World Test Championship Standings table, with a points percentage of 68.51. Coming to the match, After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the visitors were bundled out for 218 in their first innings, with Zak Crawley (79 in 108 balls, with 11 fours and a six) top-scored for England, Jonny Bairstow (29), and Joe Root (26) the only notable contributors with the willow.Kuldeep Yadav (5/72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4/51) topped the bowling charts for India. In their first innings, India again out-batted England by a country mile, with the opening pair of skipper Rohit Sharma (103 in 162 balls, with 13 fours and three sixes) and Yashashwi Jaiswal (57 in 58 balls, with five fours and three sixes), contributing handsomely and putting the English attack to the sword. Debutant Devdutt Padikkal (65 in 103 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Sarfaraz Khan (56 in 60 balls, with eight fours and a six) also came up with crucial hands. After a mini-collapse, the ninth-wicket pair of Kuldeep Yadav (30 in 69 balls, with two fours) and Jasprit Bumrah (20 in 64 balls, with two fours) raised a 49-run stand to take India to 477, giving them a lead of 259 runs over the visitors. Shoaib Bashir (5/173) was the pick of the bowlers for England while Tom Hartley and the veteran, James Anderson took two wickets apiece. Skipper Ben Stokes also got a wicket off his first ball of the series. England were tasked to cut down on a deficit of 259 runs in their second innings. Though Joe Root (84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours) attempted to fight it out for England, he got very little support from the other end. Jonny Bairstow (39 in 31 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Tom Hartley (20 in 24 balls, with four boundaries) contributed respectable scores, but nothing could help Root avert a disaster as England was bundled out for 195, handing England a defeat by an innings and 64 runs. England also lost the series 4-1. Ashwin ended the match in the first session itself, demolishing the English top-order and ending with a five-wicket haul. Ashwin (5/77) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja got one. (ANI)
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