India No. 2 in Test rankings after 3-0 series rout over South Africa

India moved into second place in the ICC Test Championship table after beating South Africa in the four-Test series 3-0, in Delhi, on Monday.

The series result gave Virat Kohli’s side 10 points, which lifted it from 100 points to 110 and ahead of Australia and Pakistan, who slipped a place each to third and fourth respectively.

Hashim Amla’s side retained the number-one Test ranking but their lead at the top was slashed from 16 points to just four points.

India has no more Test matches before the annual April 1 cut-off date, but third-ranked Australia will host eighth-ranked West Indies in a three-Test series from December 10, sixth-ranked New Zealand will go head to head with seventh-ranked Sri Lanka also from December 10, while fifth-ranked England will travel to South Africa for a four-Test series, which starts in Durban on December 26.

To finish as the number-one ranked Test side at the annual cut-off date, South Africa will have to, at least, draw the series with England.  Failure to do so will result in them falling from the top and handing the number-one position to Australia, provided they win the series against the West Indies 3-0.

ICC Test Championship points (as on December 7, after the conclusion of India-South Africa Test series)

1 South Africa, 114 points

2 India, 110

3 Australia, 109

4 Pakistan, 106

5 England 99

6 New Zealand 95

7 Sri Lanka 93

8 West Indies 76

9 Bangladesh 47

10 Zimbabwe 5