After producing a dismal show against Australia in the recently concluded Test series, Pakistan have slipped to fifth position with 97 points in the latest ICC Test Rankings of 2017. Steven Smith’s Australia, who whitewashed the visitors 3-0, retained the second spot after they gained four points (109).

Five months after Misbah-ul-Haq’s men attained the No. 1 ranking in Tests for the first time since the introduction of rating system in 2003, they’ve just gone down and down after that with five losses in as many matches. In-spite winning the home series against the West Indies 2-1, Pakistan couldn’t hold onto their good run coming into New Zealand and Australia, where they did not find any success. The loss, however, pulled them down the ladder, even pressurizing the skipper Misbah to take a call on his captaincy and career.

On the other hand, India, who owned England completely in the five-match Test series after beating them 4-0, maintained their top spot with 120 points. With both Australia and India now scheduled to play an ODI series against Pakistan and England respectively, their rankings are far from getting disturbed until the next Test fixture arrives.

South Africa, who are currently playing Sri Lanka, are already 2-0 up in the three-match series, with a whitewash likely to help them climb up the rankings. They now stand third in the list with 102 points while a win at Johannesburg will add five more points to finish with 107 points, still two behind second ranked Australia.

England are fourth in the rankings chart with 101 points while New Zealand and Sri Lanka are sixth and seventh respectively with 96 points each. West Indies could hardly bother the table as they are ranked eight in the list.

ICC TEST RANKINGS