Team India guaranteed number 1 spot in ICC Test rankings

Team India is all set to retain the number one position in the ICC Test rankings after an emphatic win over Australia in the Bengaluru Test. The hosts had lost the first Test at Pune and there were chances of the rankings seeing a bit of movement had the host nation suffered another defeat in the Tests to follow.

Now with a win to their name in the Test series, they are assured to be capping off the top honours at the end of the ICC’s official annual cut-off date of April 1.

The teams that end up with the top ranked position by the cut-off date gets a cash reward of huge bounty sum amounting to USD 1 Million from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

As per the reports, the official social media handle of the ICC confirmed the same on the micro-blogging site Twitter after India’s 75 runs win over Australia on Tuesday. They wrote as they confirmed the news, “Victory in the 2nd Test against Australia assures India a No. 1 finish on April 1 cut-off date and a cash prize of USD 1 million”.

Commenting about the match, the Indian side had faced a severe setback after their batting collapsed for the third time in a row. With just 189 runs on the board, they were always playing the chasing game. However, the bowlers bowled tight lines to keep India in the hunt.

The Aussies did manage to take some lead in the first innings but a decent start by India in the second innings, riding on KL Rahul’s fifty, helped the hosts negate the lead soon. Fifties from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara followed thereafter that put the hosts in driver’s seat by the end of day 3.

More drama unfolded on the fourth day as the innings was wrapped up after pace attack of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc made a mockery of the Indian lower order. The Aussies showed aggressive intent as they stepped out to chase 188 for the win. But a scintillating turn around was on the card as the hosts registered a series levelling win by 75 runs after R Ashwin bagged his 25th five wicket haul.