India rockets to second position in the latest ICC Test team rankings

The young Indian team scripted history at the Gabba in Brisbane by conquering the fourth Test against the mighty Australia and retaining the prestigious Border Gavaskar Trophy by 2-1. Winning the Test and series at Gabba without Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja is nothing less than magical and all the Indian players deserve a standing ovation for the same.

After a horrendous outing in the first Test at Adelaide Oval, India emerged victorious in the second Test followed by a draw in the third Test. The last match saw the visitors defeating the hosts by 3 wickets while chasing a massive target of 328 in the fourth innings. The result of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 also impacted the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Team Rankings in a positive way for the Men in Blue.

India climbed to the second position from the third place with 117.65 rating points. Australia, on the other hand, is pushed one place down to the third spot with 113 points. New Zealand retained his number 1 position with 118.44 points in the Test team rankings. ICC revealed the new rankings via their official Twitter handle.

🇮🇳 India displace Australia to become the new No.2 in the @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Team Rankings 🎉#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/ae4sPu3VdQ

— ICC (@ICC) January 19, 2021

India shows nerves of steel to clinch the Gabba Test

The fourth Test had commenced with Australia winning the toss and putting up a total of 369 runs on the board on the back of a stunning century by Marnus Labuschagne. For India, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan and Shardul Thakur had scalped three wickets each. In reply, India put up a good fight as they were successful in scoring 336 runs after the initial batting collapse.

Thakur and Sundar were the main men for the visitors with their knock of 67 and 62 runs respectively. This was followed by Australia adding 294 runs to the scoreboard and giving India a whopping target of 328 runs. Steve Smith was the highest run-getter for his team in the third innings with 55 runs while Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur breathed fire with the ball as they picked 5 and 4 scalps respectively.

The Day 5 of the marquee Test saw an action-packed chase as India gave in their all to chase 328. While Shubman Gill was the highest run-getter for his knock of 91 runs, Rishabh Pant emerged as a wrecker-in-chief for the Men in Blue with his match-defining knock of 89* runs to help India win by 3 wickets.