Team India has retained the pole position in the ICC Test Rankings and Virat Kohli and Co. will also receive an award of $1 million as they are set to remain No.1 at the cutoff date of April 3. This will be the second straight year that India will receive the prestigious mace and the award.
Although India lost the Test series against South Africa by a margin of 2-1 yet their victory in the 3rd and final Test in Johannesburg has ensured that they will maintain their No.1 position for the award from ICC. South Africa, who are placed No.2, have a Test series coming up against Australia but even if the Proteas go on to win the series 4-0, they won’t overtake India.
Had India lost the series 3-0, they would still be the table-toppers but South Africa would have been only behind in terms of decimal points and would have had a chance of becoming No.1 by beating Australia by a margin of 2-0 or better.
When it comes to players’ rankings, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has grown even stronger in terms of the rating. The second-ranked batsman now has a rating of 912 as opposed to 900 before the series. Only Sunil Gavaskar had achieved a higher rating of 916 amongst the Indian batsmen. Australian captain Steve Smith continues to lead the chart with a rating of 947.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has gained massively from his superb outing in the Rainbow Nation as he has entered the top 20 rankings for the first time. In the all-rounder’s rankings as well, he has risen 8 places to reach No.12.
ICC Test Teams’ Rankings
| Rank | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | India | 44 | 5313 | 121 |
| 2 | South Africa | 39 | 4484 | 115 |
| 3 | Australia | 40 | 4174 | 104 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 35 | 3489 | 100 |
| 5 | England | 49 | 4829 | 99 |
| 6 | Sri Lanka | 43 | 4058 | 94 |
| 7 | Pakistan | 34 | 2988 | 88 |
| 8 | West Indies | 36 | 2606 | 72 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 23 | 1651 | 72 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 14 | 12 | 1 |
ICC Test Batsmen’s Rankings
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Steve Smith | Australia | 947 |
| 2 | Virat Kohli | India | 912 |
| 3 | Joe Root | England | 881 |
| 4 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 855 |
| 5 | David Warner | Australia | 827 |
| 6 | Cheteshwar Pujara | India | 810 |
| 7 | Hashim Amla | South Africa | 771 |
| 8 | Azhar Ali | Pakistan | 755 |
| 9 | Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 743 |
| 10 | Alastair Cook | England | 742 |
ICC Test Bowlers’ Rankings
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | James Anderson | England | 887 |
| 2 | Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 875 |
| 3 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | 844 |
| 4 | Josh Hazlewood | Australia | 814 |
| 5 | Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 803 |
| 6 | Rangana Herath | Sri Lanka | 799 |
| 7 | Vernon Philander | South Africa | 791 |
| 8 | Neil Wagner | New Zealand | 784 |
| 9 | Morne Morkel | South Africa | 773 |
| 10 | Mitchell Starc | Australia | 769 |
ICC Test All-Rounders’ Rankings
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating |
| 1 | Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 438 |
| 2 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | 391 |
| 3 | Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 368 |
| 4 | Ben Stokes | England | 358 |
| 5 | Vernon Philander | South Africa | 322 |
| 6 | Moeen Ali | England | 297 |
| 7 | Mitchell Starc | Australia | 291 |
| 8 | Rangana Herath | Sri Lanka | 216 |
| 9 | Jason Holder | Windies | 208 |
| 10 | Dilruwan Perera | Sri Lanka | 206 |
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