India recently clinched the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia 2-1.
The Rohit Sharma-led side is due to take on Australia in the WTC final at the Oval in London from June 7-11.
Before the annual rankings update, Australia were occupying the top spot with 122 points while India were trailing them by three points (119). The annual rankings consider all series completed since May 2020, with series completed before May 2022 weighted at 50 percent and all subsequent series weighted at 100 percent.
While Australia’s home series wins over Pakistan (2-0) and New Zealand (3-0) in 2019/20 were no longer in consideration, their 4-0 win over England in 2021/22 has its weighting halved. As a result, Australia's ratings dropped from 121 to 116.
On the other hand, India’s 2-0 defeat against New Zealand in 2019/20 was taken out of the equation and it gave them a two-point boost from 119 to 121.
Australia achieved the numero uno position in the Test rankings under Pat Cummins' first assignment as captain as they crushed England 4-0 in the home Ashes in January 2022. India were holding the top spot till December 2021 but a 2-1 loss to South Africa saw them losing their crown.
Under Ben Stokes, England have won 10 out of their 12 Test matches and it reflects in their rankings as well. The Three Lions have closed the gap to second spot from 13 points to just two. The weightage of their 4-0 Ashes defeat and the 1-0 series defeat away against West Indies have been reduced as well.
(With ICC Inputs)