Dubai: India dropped a place to fifth position following their series loss to England in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings released Tuesday.
England’s landslide victory earned them four points vaulting them two places to third in the standings while India conceded six points.
England, at 104 points, now lead Sri Lanka by three points while the latter are ahead of India and Pakistan by five points. India and Pakistan are equal on 96 but Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side is ranked ahead as the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.
Sri Lanka moved up a place after their 2-0 series victory at home against Pakistan, who dropped two places to sixth.
With 124 points, South Africa sit on top of the table but Australia are just one point behind. Michael Clarke’s side will have one eye on the No. 1 spot when they arrive in the United Arab Emirates in October. But to regain the coveted position, they will have to win both Tests against Pakistan.
The table in the middle is tight with 11 points separating No. 3 England from No. 7 New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Indian batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli’s dismal performances in the recently concluded five-match Test series against England saw them dropping down in the rankings for Test batsmen.
While Pujara dropped four places to 16th, Kohli slid a further five places to 26th. Pujara, however, still remains India’s highest-ranked batsman in the table.
India’s second highest run getter of the series, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finished the series in 28th position, climbing four places. The skipper scored four half-centuries with a best of 82 during the tour.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara holds the No. 1 spot in the rankings closely followed by AB de Villiers of South Africa. Meanwhile, in the bowlers rankings, Ravichandran Ashwin’s figures of 3/72 in the last Test at The Oval helped him earn a place to be ranked at 13th. However, Ashwin lost the top spot in the all-rounders rankings to give way to Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan.
