A 'major glitch' gave the Indian fanbase a moment of joy on Tuesday afternoon when the ICC website showed India at number one spot in ICC Men's Test rankings, and Australia at second place. The sudden change in rankings, India piping Australia to become number one rankes Test team, was quite surprising as both teams aren't playing any Test series and will clash against each other in a five-match Test series, in February 2023.
Despite no Test series going on, India managed to dethorne Australia as the number one Test side in ICC Test rankings, but just for over two hours, as it later turned out to be a technical blunder.
The top-two Test teams in the world, as per the latest rankings, will compete in a four-match Test series when Australia tour India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, next month.
India have 3,690 points and a rating of 115 after 32 Tests while Australia have 3,231 points and a rating of 126 from 29 matches. England are number 3 in the world in the longest format as of now with 107 rating points while South Africa find themselves at the 4th place in the Test rankings with 102 rating points. Inaugural World Test Championship winners New Zealand are at the 5th place in the Test rankings with 99 rating points.
It is pertinent to note that while series wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh helped India maintain second position in rankings, Australia too had a great run in the traditional format of the game with Test series wins over West Indies and South Africa.
Notably, the Indian team won both their matches against Bangladesh but Australia only managed a draw in their last Test match against South Africa which was a rain-affected affair. However, this hasn't taken a toll on Australia's rankings as they have managed to retain their tag of the number 1 team in the world.
Pat Cummins & Co. now have an opportunity to beat India in India, next month, and by doing so they can even deny India a place in their second successive World Test Championship final.