Despite their not so sparkling test season, Team India has been able to successfully retain the fourth position in the ICC Test team rankings. However England, currently standing just behind India has still got a chance to move up the tally during the upcoming Ashes series against Australia.
The Ashes series starts in Cardiff on Wednesday and both England and Australia would do their best to hold possession of the prestigious Urn and also move upwards the rankings table.
Right now, England are on fifth position on 97 points, trailing India, and ahead of Pakistan by a fraction of a point, whereas Australia are in second spot on 111 points.
For England it is imperative to have an opportunity to move to as high as second only if they win the series by 3-0 margin or better, otherwise they will drop to as low as seventh if Australia win all five Tests.
On the contrary, Australia will jump to 118 points to reduce the gap with number-one ranked South Africa to 12 points but will drop to fourth if England win all the five Tests as a 3-0 or 4-1 result in favour of England will mean Australia will drop behind England in third position.
So far as the Test batsmen’s chart is concerned, Australia vice-captain Steven Smith would look to defend his number-one spot as he holds a five-point advantage over South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
For India, Virat Kohli is the lone Indian batsman to be counted in the top-10 list, sitting at number 10th position.
Sadly, none of the Indian bowlers could get a place in the top-10 chart for Test bowlers, which is headed by Dale Steyn of South Africa.
Here is the table for the latest ICC Test Team Rankings –
| Rank | Country | Points |
| 1 | South Africa | 130 |
| 2 | Australia | 111 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 99 |
| 4 | India | 97 |
| 5 | England | 97 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 97 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 96 |
| 8 | West Indies | 81 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 41 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 5 |