India regain No. 1 spot in ICC Test Rankings after record 372-run win vs New Zealand

After managing to inflict a heavy 372-run defeat on New Zealand, India are now the top-ranked nation in Test cricket according to the ICC cricket rankings. India, at No. 1 spot, have 3,465 points and a rating of 124. They are ahead of now second-placed New Zealand and third-placed Australia, who have 3,021 and 1,844 points respectively, and 121 and 108 ratings respectively.

On Monday, December 6, India managed to defeat New Zealand by a record margin in their second Test game of the two match series. India won by a comfortable 372 runs after they sent the New Zealand batting lineup back to the pavilion for 167 in the second innings. This is India's biggest Test win by runs.

India vs New Zealand 2nd Test: Recap

As Day 2 of the second Test match came to an end, India managed to bundle New Zealand out for 62, and the Men in Blue even had the option to enforce a follow-on. However, they opted to bat their second innings. Virat Kohli's men had to shuffle things a little as they replaced an injured Shubman Gill and sent Cheteshwar Pujara to open with Mayank Agarwal. The duo did exceeding well as they took India to 69 for no loss at the end of Day 2. Mayank concluded the day with 38 runs off 75 balls and Pujara with 29 runs off 51 balls.

Going into Day 3, the openers performed well as they propelled India to 107 before Mayank departed, having scored 62 runs off 108 balls. Soon after that, Pujara also walked back to the pavilion, missing out on his half-century by just three runs.

Shubman Gill, who walked in at No.3, played well too, scoring 47 runs off 75 balls. Virat Kohli started well but got out for 36 runs off 84 balls. Axar Patel came in and went berserk as he scored 41 runs off 26 balls to give India a 540-run lead, post which Virat Kohli declared the innings and decided to hunt New Zealand's batting lineup. Once again, it was Ajaz Patel taking the wickets for the Kiwis, with the Mumbai-born spinner taking four wickets in the second innings to finish with 14 wickets in the game.

As New Zealand began their chase, Ravichandran Ashwin struck early on as opener Tom Latham was sent packing in the fourth over, having scored just 6 runs in 15 balls. With New Zealand at 13 for 1, the umpire had to stop the play as the spider cam disrupted the proceedings. When they returned, Ashwin was not done as he took the wickets of Will Young and Ross Taylor to further pile the pressure on New Zealand. 

On Day 4, the Indian bowling lineup came with a mission to finish it off as soon as possible, and they did exactly that. Ashwin grabbed another wicket before Jayant Yadav managed to take four and send the New Zealand batsmen packing. It was an assured, all-round performance from Team India, with some good batting and sensational bowling.

Image: BCCI