India and Australia are set to continue a heated rivalry from June 7-11, with both countries gearing up for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final.
As of May 2, India dethroned the Aussies of top spot in the World Test Rankings after defeating them in March, with the visitors failing to end an 18-year drought.
🚨 New World No.1 🚨
— ICC (@ICC) May 2, 2023
India dethrone Australia in the annual update of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Test Rankings ahead of the #WTC23 Final 👀
With the final scheduled for June in the UK, top spot will be up for grabs yet again.
Unfortunately for South Africa, they slightly missed out on a chance to play off in the World Test Championship Final by a matter of three percent.
India (58.80 percent) sit marginally higher than South Africa (55.56 percent) while England (46.97 percent) rounds out the top four.
MORE: World Test Championship Final: When is it, how to watch or stream
Are India the best Test cricket team in the world?
As it stands, India currently sit on top of the ICC Test rankings, recently jumping Australia on the leaderboard.
However, the Aussies still finished atop the ICC 2021-2023 World Test Championship Rankings, holding off India and South Africa as they head to the UK for the Ashes and World Test Championship Final.
After the introduction of the WTC back in 2019, New Zealand won the inaugural title after defeating England in the final, making them the undisputed kings of Test cricket at the time.
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World Test Championship Final: Predicted team XIs for Australia and India
The World Test Championship Final is set to take place between June 7-11 in the UK.
Australia WTC Final predicted XI
- David Warner
- Usman Khawaja
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Steve Smith
- Travis Head
- Cameron Green
- Alex Carey (wk)
- Pat Cummins (c)
- Mitchell Starc
- Nathan Lyon
- Scott Boland
India WTC Final predicted XI
- Rohit Sharma (c)
- Shubman Gill
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Virat Kohli
- Ajinkya Rahane
- Ravindra Jadeja
- KS Bharat (wk)
- R Ashwin
- Umesh Yadav
- Mohammed Shami
- Mohammed Siraj
How does the World Test Championship work?
After being cancelled in both 2013 and 2017, the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) was finally introduced in 2019.
The championship runs over the course of two years, with the current edition beginning in August 2021 and the final set to be held in June 2023.
Teams are awarded points for 12 points for a victory, six points for a tie, four points for a draw and zero points for a loss, with percentages factored in for each result and sides ranked on those percentages.
ICC World Test Championship points distribution
| Result | Points earned | Percentage of points |
| Win | 12 | 100% |
| Tie | 6 | 50% |
| Draw | 4 | 33.33% |
| Loss | 0 | 0% |
ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 standings
| Team | Percentage | Points | Wins | Losses | Draws | Series | Penalty (overs) |
| 1. Australia | 66.67% | 152 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| 2. India | 58.80% | 127 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 6 | -5 |
| 3. South Africa | 55.56% | 100 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 4. England | 46.97% | 124 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 6 | -12 |
| 5. Sri Lanka | 44.44% | 64 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 New Zealand | 38.46% | 60 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| 7. Pakistan | 38.10% | 64 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 8. West Indies | 34.62% | 54 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 6 | -2 |
| 9. Bangladesh | 11.11% | 16 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
ICC Men's Test Team Rankings (as of May 10th, 2023)
| Team | Matches | Points | Rating |
| 1. India | 25 | 3,031 | 121 |
| 2. Australia | 23 | 2,679 | 116 |
| 3. England | 36 | 4,103 | 114 |
| 4. South Africa | 21 | 2,182 | 104 |
| 5. New Zealand | 23 | 2,291 | 100 |
| 6. Pakistan | 22 | 1,902 | 86 |
| 7. Sri Lanka | 24 | 2,015 | 84 |
| 8. West Indies | 25 | 1,906 | 76 |
| 9. Bangladesh | 18 | 805 | 45 |
| 10. Zimbabwe | 7 | 223 | 32 |