India’s rise to the top in Test cricket, a statistical view
Even a few years back, India were not among the best Test teams in world cricket. Their performance at home and away had not been appreciative enough and had India lost its interest from Test cricket remained a moot question.
But in the last two years, under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, the men in blue have reached the top of ICC Test ranking and are now rated as the best Test team in world cricket.
Why India are the number 1 Test team in the world?
Let’s have a look from a statistical point of view.
When MS Dhoni was unfit to play the first Test of the series against Australia in 2014-15, a young Virat Kohli was handed over the Test captaincy for the first time. Virat Kohli’s first stint as captain impressed everyone. The pressure of captaincy didn’t hamper his form and he led his men smartly on the field. Moreover, his attacking captaincy earned him accolades from the fans and critics. Virat almost won the match for India, but Australia had the last laugh.
MS Dhoni returned as captain in the second match, but India lost the match. The Kohli-Rahane show managed a draw for India, but Dhoni shocked the cricketing world by resigning from captaincy post and India entered into the era of Virat Kohli from the fourth Test at Sydney.
Virat’s start was not rosy, but gradually he regrouped his men and at present, his team is sitting at the top and enjoying a pleasant moment.
Before going into detailed stats, look at the ICC Test team ranking below.
India are way ahead of the second best with a difference of 12 rating points.
| Rank | Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1 | India | 36 | 4,338 | 121 |
| 2 | Australia | 44 | 4,797 | 109 |
| 3 | South Africa | 33 | 3,528 | 107 |
| 4 | England | 50 | 5,071 | 101 |
| 5 | New Zealand | 41 | 4,011 | 98 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 36 | 3,494 | 97 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 39 | 3,578 | 92 |
| 8 | West Indies | 30 | 2,077 | 69 |
| 9 | Bangladesh | 19 | 1,168 | 61 |
| 10 | Zimbabwe | 10 | 48 | 5 |
India’s dominance in Test cricket for the last two years is a result of their performance as a unit. The performance of the Indian batsmen and bowlers had been consistent and this played a vital role behind India’s advance to the top.
Just check below table and compare Win/Lost ratio, you will feel the difference.
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | W/L |
| India | 21 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 15 |
| Australia | 24 | 14 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1.75 |
| England | 31 | 12 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 0.857 |
| New Zealand | 20 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 20 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Sri Lanka | 21 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0.818 |
| South Africa | 18 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1.166 |
| West Indies | 17 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 0.181 |
| Bangladesh | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0.2 |
| Zimbabwe | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
For any team, the conditions became tougher when they played abroad. India, on the other hand, since the World Cup 2015, played without any fear and stress and they lost just a single game (against Sri Lanka in August 2015) and won 4 games out of 8, managing draw 3. In these three games, two were affected by rain else result could have been even better.
| Team records since April 1, 2015 (away games) | ||||||
| Team | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | W/L |
| Australia | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pakistan | 14 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0.625 |
| England | 14 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0.571 |
| India | 8 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| New Zealand | 12 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0.428 |
| South Africa | 9 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0.5 |
| Sri Lanka | 10 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0.285 |
| Bangladesh | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Indies | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
The role of Indian batsmen has been crucial. Especially, Virat Kohli led from the front as his bat continued to script big scores and four double hundreds in four consecutive Test series indicates, how fruitful he has been for India. Batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane, Murli Vijay, Cheteswar Pujara and Ravi Aswhin responded with the bat brilliantly along with their skipper and India relished a great time.
| Player | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 |
| Joe Root (ENG) | 31 | 58 | 5 | 2862 | 254 | 54 | 6 | 20 |
| Alastrair Cook (ENG) | 31 | 59 | 4 | 2634 | 263 | 47.89 | 5 | 15 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 24 | 42 | 7 | 2448 | 215 | 69.94 | 9 | 10 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 24 | 43 | 1 | 2128 | 253 | 50.66 | 6 | 10 |
| Virat Kohli (INDIA) | 21 | 33 | 2 | 1904 | 235 | 61.41 | 6 | 4 |
| Azhar Ali (PAK) | 18 | 34 | 3 | 1856 | 302* | 59.87 | 5 | 7 |
| Johny Bairstow (ENG) | 24 | 41 | 4 | 1842 | 167* | 49.78 | 3 | 10 |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 19 | 35 | 5 | 1773 | 166 | 59.1 | 6 | 10 |
| Younis Khan (PAK) | 19 | 35 | 3 | 1650 | 218 | 51.56 | 6 | 3 |
| Moin Ali (ENG) | 30 | 52 | 6 | 1641 | 155* | 35.67 | 4 | 9 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 26 | 46 | 1 | 1623 | 258 | 36.06 | 3 | 8 |
Most Runs in Test since WC 2015
The bowling department, in the last couple of years, has been playing a vital role. The Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja duo have been lethal in turning the games towards India’s favour. This pair has shared more than 200 wickets in the last two years, which is most by any pair during this period.
| Player | Mat | Inns | Wickets | 5 | 10 |
| Ravi Ashwin (INDIA) | 21 | 40 | 135 | 15 | 5 |
| Stuart Broad (ENG) | 28 | 52 | 104 | 3 | 0 |
| Josh Hazlewood (AUS) | 23 | 43 | 97 | 3 | 0 |
| Yasir Shah (PAK) | 18 | 35 | 97 | 7 | 2 |
| Rangana Herath (SL) | 20 | 37 | 96 | 7 | 3 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 19 | 35 | 93 | 5 | 1 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 24 | 45 | 90 | 0 | 0 |
| James Anderson (ENG) | 23 | 43 | 87 | 5 | 1 |
| Moin Ali (ENG) | 30 | 52 | 76 | 1 | 0 |
| Trent Boult (NZ) | 19 | 36 | 75 | 2 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja (INDIA) | 14 | 27 | 72 | 4 | 1 |
Most Wickets in Test since WC 2015
India’s strong batting line-up and excellent bowling won almost every game, but some all-round performance has played a key role as well leading to an undefeated streak of 19 games in the home season.
| Player | Mat | Runs | HS | Bat Av | Wickets | BBI | Bowl Av |
| Ravi Ashwin (INDIA) | 21 | 843 | 118 | 33.72 | 135 | Jul-59 | 20.08 |
| Rangana Herath (SL) | 20 | 530 | 61 | 17.66 | 96 | Aug-63 | 24.9 |
| Moin Ali (ENG) | 30 | 1641 | 155* | 35.67 | 76 | May-57 | 46.31 |
| Ravindra Jadeja (INDIA) | 14 | 560 | 90 | 37.33 | 72 | Jul-48 | 20.18 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 26 | 1623 | 258 | 36.06 | 57 | Jun-36 | 35.07 |
All Round performance since WC 2015 (min 500 Runs & 50 Wickets)
India will be looking to keep their winning momentum intact against Australia, which will commence from next week. India are expected to dish out another dominating performance against them and entertain the home crowd.
About the Author
Bhaskar Ganekar is a sports journalist from India who specializes in cricket stats.
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