India reclaim top spot in ICC Test Rankings with series win against defending WTC champions New Zealand

Team India on Monday reclaimed the top spot in the ICC Men's Test Rankings with their 1-0 series win against defending World Test Champions New Zealand. India claimed the series victory with a massive 372-run win against the Blackcaps at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. 

India required only 45 minutes on the fourth morning of day 4 to pick the remaining five wickets and register their biggest win in terms of runs in Test cricket and stretch their unbeaten run at home. They have now won 14 consecutive Test series at home and 11 straight under Virat Kohli. 

New Zealand had earlier fought valiantly to force a draw in the Kanpur Test last week after their last surviving-batting pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel faced over 100 deliveries under the fading light and against the famed spin trio to deny the final wicket. 

With the win on Monday, India have now gone past New Zealand in the ICC Rankings to register 124 rating points while the defending WTC winners have now slipped to the second spot with 121 rating points. 

The victory also gave India 12 ICC World Test Championship points for the ongoing cycle, keeping them in the third spot on the standings table with total 42 points and a points percentage of 58.33. They stand behind Sri Lanka and Pakistan while New Zealand are at No.6, with a PCT of 16.66.

"Good to finish the Test series on a winning note, came very close in Kanpur, but couldn't take that last wicket. Credit to the team, they have pulled themselves back from tough situations, and were a bit disappointed at not finishing it off in Kanpur. Good to see the boys step up and take their opportunities, we were missing a few seniors, but the youngsters have taken their chances," India's head coach Rahul Dravid said after the win.