India set to dethrone Pakistan from the top of the Test rankings

India has now virtually dethroned Pakistan from the top of the test ranking charts with their win over beat New Zealand in the first test at Kanpur.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s 10-wicket match haul and Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round show helped India pocket the historic 500th Test which was played at the Green park Stadium and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

However, no official announcement has been made by the ICC regarding this as the rankings are updated only after the conclusion of a particular series.

Pakistan recently became No. 1 in Tests for the first time ever since the current Test rankings were introduced in 2003, by virtue of their 2-2 draw against England. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq received the Test mace last week on September 21.

Despite India’s win today, the Pakistanis will officially reign as No. 1 Test till the India-New Zealand series wraps. But, there will be excitement regarding the outcome of India-New Zealand series and the Pakistan- West Indies test series which will begin in a matter of few days.

India obviously is the favourite to win the series against the Black Caps given the way its spinners performed in the series. And, to stay at the top and officially become the number ranked side, India have to do only one thing – win the series by at least a 2-0 margin. If numbers are concerned, Pakistan has no chance to reclaim their top position even if they beat Windies 3-0.

The only way Pakistan can return to the top is to first expect India to lose one Test against New Zealand and hope India finishes 2-1 in the test series and then manage to win their three-match contests by a clean sweep.

The Misbah led side had 111 points and India was on 110. With the win over Black Caps, India gained 1 point to equalise Pakistan on 111 points. But India is ahead of Pakistan in calculation beyond decimal points.

India Win Series(IWS) 2-0, Pak Win Series(PWS) 3-0 *No.1-IND
IWS 2-1, PWS 3-0 *No.1-PAK
IWS 1-0, PWS 2-0 *No.1-IND
IWS 2-1 PWS 2-1 *No.1-IND

— Sarath Chandran (@ImSarathC) September 26, 2016

India just need to win the 3-match Test series by a margin of 2-0 v New Zealand to become #1 Test side, even if Pakistan bt West Indies 3-0

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 25, 2016