How did India become the No. 1 Test Side?

[Motorwada]

India, Australia and SA are very close together at the top. You could argue for any of them. England were in the argument as well but have fallen away a bit of late after thrashings in Australia and India, but they have a positive record against SA.

I think India did well in SA but they will have to compete well in England and Australia and draw (or win) at least one of those series to keep the No. 1 ranking. If they lose both, they will definitely be overtaken by SA or Australia.

I think it's more between Ind/SA. Aus has away series defeats in England too in addition to their Asian misadventures so that's 4 away series they have lost and 1 drawn against Bangladesh. Add the home series loss against SA and they drop in the queue.

 

[Motorwada]

India, Australia and SA are very close together at the top. You could argue for any of them. England were in the argument as well but have fallen away a bit of late after thrashings in Australia and India, but they have a positive record against SA.

I think India did well in SA but they will have to compete well in England and Australia and draw (or win) at least one of those series to keep the No. 1 ranking. If they lose both, they will definitely be overtaken by SA or Australia.

Tbh depends on how SA do in SL and Aus do in UAE too.

 

[Motorwada]

Here is the thing, in terms of assessing a team, you should get less credit overall for your overseas victories if you lose more frequently at home (SA), but you shouldnt get extra credit for your lack of achievement abroad based on being undefeated at home (India).

Except in the last 4 years Ind has a better away W/L ratio?

 

[vcs]

Tbh depends on how SA do in SL and Aus do in UAE too.

Yep, no doubt.

Let's say India lose 3-1 in England and Australia. Australia draw 2-2 in SA, SA lose in SL and Australia lose in UAE. Then India would probably still be ahead.

Though I find that to be unlikely. Definitely think Australia have a decent chance of winning in UAE at least.

 

[Motorwada]

Yep, no doubt.

Let's say India lose 3-1 in England and Australia. Australia draw 2-2 in SA, SA lose in SL and Australia lose in UAE. Then India would probably still be ahead.

Though I find that to be unlikely. Definitely think Australia have a decent chance of winning in UAE at least.

Let's see. I thought Aus would win in UAE 2014 too post Ajmal and SL 2016 post Sanga-Mahela too. Got their first series defeats against these teams after like 15-20 years and that too whitewashes. Thing is winning away series is tough and some random new guy can come and blow you away. Same thing happened to Aus in 2001 with Bhajji. Another example is Ngidi against us etc. Thing is no amount of prep for alien conditions can equal spending your entire life playing in those conditions.

 

[Gob]

Since the away records of all teams are bad (with Ind's being the best) what better way to compensate then by comparing home records? Ind has best away W/L ratio in the last 4 years, best home W/L ratio in the last 4 years.

How many of those games were in Sl and Wi? I recall Australia winning 4 out of 4 against Wi and Nz and that means **** all to me

I think you are over looking the bigger picture. For me a series draw or a win positively affects a team on their standing of the rankings a defeat does not regardless of how competitive they were. I think you can find reasons to call India a better team than SA and Aus if you look hard enough but that's the point you don't have to look hard if you are a clear cut number one. I thought India were deserving number one in 2011 when thay had won their last tours to England and New Zealand while drawing in SA and thats what they simply has to do. Win/draw against England and Aust and i'll concede them to be a clear number one

 

[vcs]

Let's see. I thought Aus would win in UAE 2014 too post Ajmal and SL 2016 post Sanga-Mahela too. Got their first series defeats against these teams after like 15-20 years and that too whitewashes. Thing is winning away series is tough and some random new guy can come and blow you away. Same thing happened to Aus in 2001 with Bhajji. Another example is Ngidi against us etc. Thing is no amount of prep for alien conditions can equal spending your entire life playing in those conditions.

That's true, I think Yasir Shah made his name last time when Australia toured there and got walloped. Pakistan always unearth new bowlers somehow when you least expect it.

 

[Motorwada]

How many of those games were in Sl and Wi? I recall Australia winning 4 out of 4 against Wi and Nz and that means **** all to me

I think you are over looking the bigger picture. For me a series draw or a win positively affects a team on their standing of the rankings a defeat does not regardless of how competitive they were. I think you can find reasons to call India a better team than SA and Aus if you look hard enough but that's the point you don't have to look hard if you are a clear cut number one. I thought India were deserving number one in 2011 when thay had won their last tours to England and New Zealand while drawing in SA and thats what they simply has to do. Win/draw against England and Aust and i'll concede them to be a clear number one

If you cancel out SL and WI for Ind you have to start cancelling non Asian wins for the others and it will come down to the same thing.

The draw/win logic would hold true if other teams were drawing/winning in unfamiliar conditions which they are not.

 

[sunilz]

When one team can't win even in Bangladesh and other loses both at home and away to England , then India needs to do only draw few test match overseas to claim clear cut no.1 .

And losing 2-1 is not same as getting whitewashed 3-0.

 

[Heboric]

Man, maybe I should revist South Africas previous matches and add the old 'AW' - Almost Won stat. With 75 pages of notes saying how we almost won and if we lost its because our bowlers had the wrong boots on so it doesnt really count as a loss.

 

[Motorwada]

Man, maybe I should revist South Africas previous matches and add the old 'AW' - Almost Won stat. With 75 pages of notes saying how we almost won and if we lost its because our bowlers had the wrong boots on so it doesnt really count as a loss.

Just selective biased interpretation. India WON a match in SA. SA didn't WIN a SINGLE match in India. SA LOST series against Eng home away. There is no ALMOST here.

 

[Burner]

There's no such thing as a clear number 1. You are number one when you are not as **** as the rest or better than the rest however you see it and that's what India are right now.

 

[Heboric]

Just selective biased interpretation. India WON a match in SA. SA didn't WIN a SINGLE match in India. SA LOST series against Eng home away. There is no ALMOST here.

India didnt come REMOTELY CLOSE of winning a series in Australia or South Africa

 

[Chrish]

Last time any major team had a good away performance was when Pakistan drew that series.

SA’s performance in Australia was pretty impressive too considering they were missing key players but it’s not as shocking as what Pak did in England.

India really needs to at least draw series in England or Australia to be considered true no 1 imo now that SA series is out of picture. Being competitive or running close at the end of the day don’t mean anything.

 

[harsh.ag]

SA are the best side in the world. More versatile than India and not prone to collapses/momentum-losses like Australia.

 

[harsh.ag]

If QdK finds form, they will easily be the best side.

 

[Chrish]

Nah that tour to England was a disaster.. SA has a lot of work to do imo.

 

[Motorwada]

India didnt come REMOTELY CLOSE of winning a series in Australia or South Africa

And SA didn't come REMOTELY CLOSE to winning a series in England or India (didn't even win a match here). They also did not REMOTELY come close to winning their HOME series against England.

 

[Motorwada]

SA are the best side in the world. More versatile than India and not prone to collapses/momentum-losses like Australia.

Versatile how? They lost in Eng and Ind pretty heavily. Also lost a home series to Eng. Won in Aus but lost a home series. Also lost a match against India (but could not defeat India in India in a single match).

 

[Heboric]

Last time any major team had a good away performance was when Pakistan drew that series.

SA’s performance in Australia was pretty impressive too considering they were missing key players but it’s not as shocking as what Pak did in England.

India really needs to at least draw series in England or Australia to be considered true no 1 imo now that SA series is out of picture. Being competitive or running close at the end of the day don’t mean anything.

I am sorry but India have to win a series in Aus and England , South Africa have been drawing in Australia before The Beatles were around. It was only since they won there that it counted