By SAT Sports Desk
MELBOURNE, May 1, 2020: The Australian Men’s Team has become the No.1 ranked side in the world in Test and Twenty20 International cricket, usurping India and Pakistan in the latest MRF Tyres International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings.
The Test team displaced India from top spot on the world Test standings, a ranking Virat Kohli’s men had had held since October, 2016.
In T20 Internationals Australia claimed top spot for the first time since T20 rankings were introduced by the ICC in 2011. Pakistan had held the top rankings for 27 months.
Australian Men’s Team coach Justin Langer paid tribute to the sides for their efforts across the past 12 months.
The Test team retained the Ashes in England and were unbeaten in five home Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand during the Australian summer, while the T20 side was unbeaten across six matches at home and defeated South Africa 2-1 in South Africa this season.
“We have got lots of work to do to become the team we want to be, but over the last couple of years not only have we performed well on the field but we have performed well off it,” Langer said.
“We have earned some respect back from other teams around the world but also from Australia.”
Langer said performance was not the only measure of his team.
“When we started on this journey there had been a lot of talk about Australia wanting to be No.1 in the world in all three forms of the game,” he said.
“We took a different approach. Not once did we talk about being No.1 ranked in the world, we wanted to be No.1 in our values and process. That is what I am most proud of.”
Langer said while Australia may have assumed top ranking, India was still the benchmark.
“I said in my first conference as coach we will know we are a great team if we can beat India in India and that is certainly a great goal for us. We know they are so tough to beat so only then will we really know we can claim the number one spot,” he said.
“The last time we played India here they beat us for the first time in Australia so we will be determined to beat them when they come back.”
Winning the T20 World Cup in October-November is the next priority for the team, but Langer warns just how difficult that prospect is.
“I also know how hard it is to win World Cup,” he said. “England were very deserved winners of the One-Day World Cup last year and everything has to go right, you can’t have an off day.”
India dropped to third with New Zealand retaining second place in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings.
In the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Rankings Australia (278) tops the list from England, India, and Pakistan.
For the full rankings visit https://www.icc-cricket.com/
