Bad news—one after the another—kept coming in for Australia after losing Border-Gavaskar Trophy to India at Dharamsala. Australia not only lost the Test series to India by 1-2 but also missed out on ‘half a million dollar’ prize as well after they slipped to the third position in ICC Test Team Rankings with a difference of just 1 rating point. ICC’s cut-off date for prize money distribution to top three ranked teams is April 1.
On the contrary, India won ‘a million dollar prize’ for finishing at the No. 1 spot and were awarded a Test Championship mace, which was received graciously by captain Virat Kohli. India sits pretty at the No. 1 spot with 122 rating points, well ahead of South Africa and Australia. The Proteas, too turned out to be lucky as they were able to draw Hamilton Test against New Zealand, thanks to the rain god.
READ: India retains ICC Test Championship mace for being No.1 in the ICC @MRFWorldwide Test Team Rankings! – https://t.co/5eBwKjRk04 pic.twitter.com/MFF7DTR6ki
— ICC (@ICC) March 28, 2017
The Proteas made it to the No. 2 spot just in time as they won the Test series against New Zealand by 1-0. They were 2 points behind Australia before the latest ICC Test Team Rankings. They were in a critical situation against the Black Caps as they were trailing by 95 runs in second innings with just 5 wickets in hand.
Australia is going through a rough patch and Steven Smith’s captaincy is in question as the former player Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe accused him of not being temperamentally sound enough. The Aussies have had a bad run in the sub-continent this season as they lost to Sri Lanka as well on their tour in 2016.
