India vs Windies: Hosts target to maintain top position in ICC Test rankings

Come Thursday and India will play their first Test against the Windies at home. It’s almost after a year that the No.1 Test side in the world is playing a series (more than one game) at home and Virat Kohli’s men will look to maintain their top position in the longer format of the game with a win in the two-Test series against the Caribbeans.

India won nine Test series on the trot starting with the 2-1 win against Sri Lanka in their den in August 2015, which was also Kohli’s first series after becoming a full-fledged captain. However, of these nine series wins, only three came overseas and of them, two were against Sri Lanka (2015 and 2017) and one against the Windies (2016). India had two major overseas Test series this year – against South Africa and England – and they lost both, the latter by a more wider margin(1-4). They thrashed debutantes Afghanistan at home in between but it was a one-off game.

India have remained at No.1 despite losses in SA & England

India have continued to be the No.1 Test side despite the defeats in South Africa and England and are nine points ahead of the next best team – South Africa. India have more overseas tours coming up this year end and early next year as they will tour Australia and New Zealand.

Given the challenges they will face Down Under, Kohli’s men will look to maintain the lead over the rest in this series although they stand to gain just one point even if they win 2-0 against Jason Holder’s side. The reason is the big difference in ratings points of the two sides. The Windies are ranked eighth in ICC’s Test list at the moment with just 77 points.

Although it may seem unlikely to majority of fans, a 0-2 loss against the visitors could see India slump to 108 points and if Australia win both their Tests against Pakistan in the UAE this month, then they could overtake them. Australia are ranked third at the moment with 106 points while Pakistan are ranked seventh with 88 ratings.

For Holder’s men, a 2-0 win can gain then some points but it is unlikely that they will go up further from their current ranking. The Windies will play India in the two games in Rajkot and Hyderabad. They will look to secure a series victory against India in India after 35 years.

[interaction id=”5bb0acad72e66564c57d47d6″]