India reach No 1 in all three cricket formats
Rohit Sharma’s India have toppled Australia to take top spot in the world test rankings, making them the No 1 team in all three international cricket formats as of Wednesday.
The hosts will need to win the second match against Australia starting Friday in New Delhi to stay at the top after they hammered the tourists by an innings and 132 runs in the opener.
India will have history on their side at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium – previously Feroz Shah Kotla – where they haven’t lost a test since 1987.
But coach Rahul Dravid said they will not get carried away by records and focus on the coming five days of action.
“We don’t look at previous history and go back in time,” Dravid told reporters.
“We cannot get carried away by that. Australia are an experienced team and have good players who know they want to come back.”
India hammered Pat Cummins’ Australia inside three days during the first match to move closer to securing their berth in June’s World Test Championship final at The Oval in London.
They need to win the series 3-1 or 3-0 to make the final.
India became the top-ranked one-day team in January after their 3-0 whitewash of New Zealand, to go with their No 1 T20 ranking.
Returning batsman Shreyas Iyer has joined the squad for the second test after a back injury made him miss the opener.
Dravid said a completely fit Iyer will walk into the XI.
“We will assess it and tomorrow as well, when he comes in for a light hit and see how he feels,” said Dravid.
“But certainly if he is ready to take the load of a five-day test match, then without doubt, with his performances in the past, he will walk straight into the side.”
Rohit led from the front in Nagpur with his 120 in India’s 400, followed by key knocks from left-handed allrounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.
“Ability to put pressure back on bowlers made the difference and that’s what Rohit did,” Dravid said.
“That’s what Axar and Jadeja did very well during that partnership. It is not the only way you can play but in these conditions, being able to put pressure back is important.”
