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The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued the annual team rankings update on Friday, with Australia taking the top spot in Test cricket and India maintaining supremacy in both white-ball formats.
Reigning ICC World Test Championship winners Australia have overtaken India to secure the top spot in whites on the back of their stunning 209-run triumph over India in the World Test Championship decider at The Oval last year, as per ICC. It helped improve Australia's rating to 124 points, four clear of their closest rival and last year's World Test Championship runners-up India (120) and 19 points clear of third-placed England (105). It is the only change at the top of the Test rankings, with South Africa (103), New Zealand (96), Pakistan (89), Sri Lanka (83), West Indies (82) and Bangladesh (53) remaining unchanged in spots between fourth and ninth. The rankings update only takes into consideration teams' performances after May 2021, with India's impressive 2-1 series triumph over Australia under skipper Virat Kohli that finished in January of 2021 dropping out of the rankings period. All results between May 2021 and May 2023 are then weighted at 50 per cent and the ones in the following 12 months - that includes Australia's World Test Championship final victory - then weighted at 100 per cent. While India (122 points) may have lost the top spot on the Test team rankings, they do remain out in front in both white-ball formats and have increased their lead at the head of proceedings in ODI cricket to six rating points over Australia (116), despite a loss to the Men in Yellow in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 following a 10-match win streak. Third-placed South Africa (112) closed the gap on Australia to just four rating points, while Pakistan (106) and New Zealand (101) round out the top five.Seventh-placed Sri Lanka (93) are now just two rating points behind sixth-placed England (95), with Bangladesh (86), Afghanistan (80) and West Indies (69) rounding out the top 10. India (264) remains well out in front of the updated T20I rankings, although their lead has been reduced from 11 points to just seven with second-placed Australia (257) jumping in front of third-placed England (252).South Africa (250) rose two spots from sixth to fourth and now sits just two rating points behind England, with Pakistan (247) dropping two places to seventh and Scotland (192) a notable improver as they overtake Zimbabwe (191) to claim 12th spot. (ANI)
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