Media reaction around the world upon India claiming the Number 1 position in ICC Test ranking

[Macj]

I think hes right, i will revel in the #1 ranking but will like it if we defeat more teams than endure a long hiatus and not play anyone for 10 months. We have to play more away and home test series to really nail the point. We are strongest on the field theres no secret about that, so we should play the Pakis now and hammer their hinds and improve our win/loss against them.

[vvvslaxman]

Only after India reached no.1 ranking. they are slicing and dicing the ranking system, flaws, what not. Is there a rule that only SA or Australia should be ranked at the top. Why was there no question when England was placed at no.3 who haven't won against India in a Test series in the last 13 years. When SA became no.1 nobody said "They should stay at the top for atleast an year or so before being considered as real no.1". well. they were knocked off the perch in no time by India.

[champ]

australian team of the gilchrist , warne, grath era was the best in this decade .. they dominated every other team except india which stood up and competed .. now that the current australian team is a shadow of its past .. and at the same time india becoming no.1 , other teams know now every team has a chance to get the top spot .. and that is where these criticisms have started .. india having played well in the dominant australian era and continuing now .. they have earned it .. so boycott please go else where and rant , cry do what ever about it .. we dont care ..

[king2be98]

India are the best Test side right now, there's no doubt about it, but he is spot on about the winning over an extended length of time. If and when India beat the likes of SA and Aus consistently and for a length of time, say 2/3 years, only then will the world ackonowledge India are the best cricket side. Right now, most people are reluctant to say India are the best cricket team simply because they haven't been at the top for very long. The other thing which India will have to do is get to the top of the ODI rankings too.

[Guest Hiten.]

India are the best Test side right now, there's no doubt about it, but he is spot on about the winning over an extended length of time. If and when India beat the likes of SA and Aus consistently and for a length of time, say 2/3 years, only then will the world ackonowledge India are the best cricket side. Right now, most people are reluctant to say India are the best cricket team simply because they haven't been at the top for very long. The other thing which India will have to do is get to the top of the ODI rankings too.

Just for your information, the reason why India find themselves at the top of the pile is because they "consistently" won series against the likes of Australia, New Zealand, England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and drew the series against RSA. We've have actually managed to beat all the top test nations on our en route to #1, so I don't understand how are we less deserving compared to RSA or Australia because they have themselves struggled to win a series outside their premises.

[vvvslaxman]

India are the best Test side right now, there's no doubt about it, but he is spot on about the winning over an extended length of time. If and when India beat the likes of SA and Aus consistently and for a length of time, say 2/3 years, only then will the world ackonowledge India are the best cricket side. Right now, most people are reluctant to say India are the best cricket team simply because they haven't been at the top for very long. The other thing which India will have to do is get to the top of the ODI rankings too.

INdia is the only side that has beaten Australia more in this decade than anybody else. Record for this decade India vs Australia - India won 7 Australia won 7 SA vs Australia - SA won 4 Australia won 13 What exactly SA has achieved against Australia.

[Karan114]

India are the best Test side right now, there's no doubt about it, but he is spot on about the winning over an extended length of time. If and when India beat the likes of SA and Aus consistently and for a length of time, say 2/3 years, only then will the world ackonowledge India are the best cricket side. Right now, most people are reluctant to say India are the best cricket team simply because they haven't been at the top for very long. The other thing which India will have to do is get to the top of the ODI rankings too.

I think some people forget that India have been playing some pretty good Test cricket for 6-7 years not. Not great Test cricket, we did lose some series in 2006 and 2008 in particular, but overall our performances have been good. Just to make my point clearer, India have lost five series since January 2003, Aus have lost four series (despite having a great team till 2007 - they have lost three series in pretty quick time) and SA have lost seven I think. So basically we had a base of being decent (but not great) and in the last 18 months have become unbeatable and understandably we are now the top ranked team in Test cricket.

[Andy]

India are the best Test side right now, there's no doubt about it, but he is spot on about the winning over an extended length of time. If and when India beat the likes of SA and Aus consistently and for a length of time, say 2/3 years, only then will the world ackonowledge India are the best cricket side. Right now, most people are reluctant to say India are the best cricket team simply because they haven't been at the top for very long. The other thing which India will have to do is get to the top of the ODI rankings too.

Tell me somthng has SA/Aus have beaten India consitently over a period of time??

[vvvslaxman]

Time to start saying " Teams have to perform well against India/ South Africa" to prove their worth :winky: Equation has changed now.

[Andy]

I think some people forget that India have been playing some pretty good Test cricket for 6-7 years not. Not great Test cricket, we did lose some series in 2006 and 2008 in particular, but overall our performances have been good. Just to make my point clearer, India have lost five series since January 2003, Aus have lost four series (despite having a great team till 2007 - they have lost three series in pretty quick time) and SA have lost seven I think. So basically we had a base of being decent (but not great) and in the last 18 months have become unbeatable and understandably we are now the top ranked team in Test cricket.

Well said!!:two_thumbs_up:

[Andy]

Time to start saying " Teams have to perform well against India/ South Africa" to prove their worth :winky: Equation has changed now.

:agree:

[Karan114]

Time to start saying " Teams have to perform well against India/ South Africa" to prove their worth :winky: Equation has changed now.

:winky: Funny thing is NO ONE comments that when India won in 2007 in England, it was the first team to win in England since 2001. No one then said - look, Aus and SA could not win in England but India has. But India becomes number one and suddenly Aus/SA become the reason we are not worthy number one.

[Andy]

:winky: Funny thing is NO ONE comments that when India won in 2007 in England, it was the first team to win in England since 2001. No one then said - look, Aus and SA could not win in England but India has. But India becomes number one and suddenly Aus/SA become the reason we are not worthy number one.

Let them cry!! More they see us on top, more they will get frustrated and cry!! As an Indian fan i wud luv to see dat!!

[goose]

India can't justify Test status without a bowling superstar - Telegraph Another article, this time by Simon Briggs in the Telegraph (UK) with cross-references to the Times piece by Atherton. Once again torn to shreds by some cracking comments at the end. India can't justify Test status without a bowling superstar http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/simonbriggs/100004312/india-cant-justify-test-status-without-a-bowling-superstar/ It is often said that the Indian cricket public are not terribly interested in Tests. But a glance at the blogosphere suggests that they are thoroughly enjoying their team’s rise to No. 1 in the world rankings. When a fellow English columnist (sorry, “ranting Pom”) recently scoffed at the table, suggesting that India were poor under pressure and didn’t deserve their lofty position, he was subjected to a ritual disembowelling online. For myself, I tend to feel that India are every bit as deserving of the laurel wreath as South Africa or Australia. The problem is that we have become accustomed to the idea of a single champion team, because that is the way the game has been since the early 1970s. In theory, the concept of three or four half-decent sides scrapping it out at the top of the table – a hung parliament, if you will – should make for greater drama than the monotony of totalitarian rule. But that is to under-estimate our love of neatness in all things, especially sport. We like to know who the pillars of world cricket are, so that we can look for cracks in the edifice. There is no story as resonant as the fall of a dynasty (as Tiger Woods, a dynasty in his own right, has just discovered). The ICC’s algorithm does a decent job of turning results into placings, as far as that goes. But the definition of a true champion side is that you don’t need to look at the table to know they are the world’s best. The other issue with India is that they are a team without great bowlers (begging Harbhajan Singh’s pardon). Their batsmen do the attacking, crushing the life out of sides with the weight and the speed of their run-scoring. Yes, the attack may be solid and professional. But it is hardly up to the level of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, nor the all-conquering juggernaut that was the West Indies’ mean machine. You can almost see their Test cricket as an extension of their one-day skills. Virender Sehwag’s 293 was a 50-over innings that happened to go on for a whole day. This is the modern way. But it is also an ancient way. The Indians are turning the clock back to the 1930s and 40s, decades when the giant score was the building block of every Test series win. That was the last era when pitches were flat enough, and bowlers subservient enough, for a batsman (Sehwag now, Bradman then) to eye up the possibility of scoring 300 runs in a day. In the modern game, we are still seeing isolated examples of bowlers (Dale Steyn, Mitchell Johnson, Ajantha Mendis) who manage to upset the established order. At least, for a while, before the combination of an overstuffed itinerary and exhaustive video analysis brings them back to the pack. India need someone with that wow factor. Harbhajan had it at the start of his career, when he ambushed the Aussies with the slippery variation that has become known as “the doosra”. Yet his performances since then have been impressive rather than truly iconic. Perhaps the solution is in front of us. Perhaps the combination of Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan, which performed so well against the Sri Lankans, can develop into a genuinely world-beating pairing. But until the Indians can dominate opponents with ball as well as bat, the arguments will go on.

[goose]

Someone fix the title.

[Celeste]

Simon Briggs for speaking the truth

[Mr. Wicket]

Phuck this, I think I'll need to write something just so there's an intelligent article out there re. India's rise to #1. Some of these pieces like the Briggs and Atherton columns are just full of ****.

[goose]

These journalists are quite sick. Oh you can have your number one status (gee thanks) you just have to work a bit harder than the rest of us to get there. Hmm, sounds like good old racism to me. Still alive and kicking in every nook and cranny of Great Britain.

[nikred]

The other issue with India is that they are a team without great bowlers (begging Harbhajan Singh’s pardon). Their batsmen do the attacking, crushing the life out of sides with the weight and the speed of their run-scoring. Yes, the attack may be solid and professional. But it is hardly up to the level of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, nor the all-conquering juggernaut that was the West Indies’ mean machine.

Life crushing Batting + Solid and professional bowling attack = No.1 team. How difficult is it to understand that. :dontknow:

[goose]

My god i just read it again. Every sentence is dripping with sh%t.