Sources have stated that India will reclaim the ICC Test Rankings top spot from Pakistan if it wins the second Test against New Zealand starting on Friday in Kolkata and the victory in its 500th Test in Kanpur meant that India is now one victory away from reclaiming the ICC Test Championship mace from Pakistan.
Presently India had entered the three match series against the Kiwis, trailing Pakistan by one point and needed to win the series to move ahead of its traditional rival and the off spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who was the star of the Kanpur win, also climbed one place to occupy second position in the ICC Test Rankings among bowlers.
Meanwhile Ashwin's match haul of 10-225, that has helped India notch up a 197 run victory in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur on Monday has seen him overtake England's James Anderson by one point and Vijay and Pujara, who has become the first Indian pair in 10 years to notch century partnerships in both innings of a Test match, moved up from joint-20th position to joint 16th position.
Other Indian batsmen to move up were KL Rahul, who have gained five ranks to reach 57th position, and Rohit Sharma, who gained two slots to reach 52nd rank and there was not much to cheer for other New Zealand batsmen apart from Williamson, but for India, opener Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara has made significant gains.
