India retain top spot in ICC Annual rankings update; South Africa equal their lowest ranking in history

The Indian team emerged as the top-rated Test side after the annual rankings were updated by the International Cricket Council for the cycle of May 2020 to May 2021. The update released on Thursday, May 13, also sees the other World Test Championship finalists New Zealand lurch behind the Indians by just one point.

But, with the latest update being issued, which rates the matches played in the last 12 months at 100% and those played in the preceding 24 months 50%, Australia have been relegated to the fourth position. But thanks to the same system, England’s 4-0 defeat to Australia in 2017-18 Ashes is out of the consideration zone for rankings and has put the English side at number three.

South Africa, on the other hand, have been forced to seventh position in the lastest rankings because of their dismal run in Test cricket over the last 24 months. This is also their lowest ever ranking in the history of the game so far.

Among the gainers is West Indies, reaching to the sixth position, their best ever in last eight years, courtesy a 2-0 series win against Bangladesh and 0-0 draw at home against Sri Lanka.

Pakistan after winning two back to back Test series against South Africa and Zimbabwe remain at the fifth position as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe complete the rest of the table. Although Afghanistan and Ireland also have Test statuses, they have not been able to get a lot of games to be ranked thus far.

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Jofra Archer comes back for Sussex in County championship fixture against Kent

Jofra Archer has made a comeback to first-class cricket after a near two-month time away from the game in the county championship game against Kent at Hove. Archer’s last appearance in a competitive game came in the fifth and final T20I of the series against India in late March earlier this year. Since then, Archer has undergone surgery on a finger of his right hand which he had injured while cleaning a fish tank at his home in the UK before embarking on the tour of India. The injury became serious in India and Archer had to head back home for the surgery that ruled him out of the first half of the Indian Premier league initially before getting ruled out of the entire tournament. Archer has also suffered from a recurrent elbow injury which kept him out of two out of the four Tests against India. The combination of his elbow and finger injury put a question mark on his fitness and availability for England in the longest format in the near future. Archer’s return will boost Sussex’s chances against Kent in the ongoing county championship after suffering five losses in the last five matches the sides have played against each other in the last few seasons of the county championship.

Make sure you make a career out of it: How Daniel Vettori’s advice impacted BJ Watling

BJ Watling who has decided to hang his boots after the Blackcaps’ England tour this summer, thanked his former captain for a piece of life-changing advice that he gave him during the former’s early days in international cricket. Talking to the Blackcaps social media team in a video uploaded on their official Twitter handle, Watling said, “Dan [Vettori] told me once, ‘Make sure you don’t just be happy with playing one or two Tests, make a career out of it’. From then on, I was immensely focused to try and have a decent career.” The Northern Districts player has now made a more than decent career, making 3777 runs in 71 Tests. Reminiscing about the time when he made his debut, Watling said, “I think if you had told me after my first few Test matches when I was 24 or something that I was gonna play 70 odd test matches and make the World Test Championship Final, I would have said, ‘Yeah, I would take that’ probably it would have been like a dream.” Watling, who has most dismissals and runs for Kiwi wicketkeeper-batsman, making him the greatest Blackcaps wicketkeeper to have ever taken the gloves, feels that winning the WTC Final would be the icing on the cake for his career. “It’s a good feeling to be able to play this long and I would look forward to playing three more Test matches. It would be really lovely to win a final,” said the 35-year-old.

Arzan Nagwaswalla idolises Zaheer Khan, but finds selection in Indian team 'hard to believe'

India have announced a surprise pick in their beefed-up squad for the tour of England where they will play as many as six Test matches. The pick —23—year—old Arzan Nagwaswalla has not sunk in the reality of getting on a plan with the senior Indian side and said that he will take some time to ‘digest and believe’ that his dreams are coming true. “It is really hard to digest and believe, honestly. It will take some time to think about this as a reality,” Nagwaswalla said to Bcci.tv. He went candid in a chat with the BCCI website and expressed his excitement over meeting great players whom he had seen only on TV before. He said that the Indian team have had great success in the recent past and he will look to learn as much as possible from them. “I am excited to meet and see all the cricketers jinko abhee tak bass TV par India ke liye achha karte hue dekhaa hai. They have secured some big wins against Australia and England recently. So, I am looking forward to learning as much as I can from all of them,” Nagwaswalla said. Taking about his inspiration and idol, Nagwswalla said that he always looked up to former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan. He has been in “My bowling idol and inspiration has always been Zaheer Khan mainly because he has also been a left-arm pacer. I have grown up watching him playing for India and doing really well,” Nagwaswalla added. Nagwaswalla picked up 41 wickets in 8 games at 18.36 during the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season for Gujarat and India saw an opportunity to groom him as he brings left-arm pace bowling to the table which the senior Indian side lacks at the moment.

Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav set to make WBBL debuts

India women’s team players Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav will be making their Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) debuts later this year in Australia. While Verma has already signed a two-year contract with Sydney Sixers, Yadav is on the verge of becoming a part of one of the two Sydney-based teams. In fact Shafali’s father had confirmed that she has signed the contract with the Sydney Sixers side. "Yes, Shafali has signed the contract with Sydney Sixers, and given she is a minor, I have had to give my consent, too," Verma's father, Sanjeev, told ESPNcricinfo. "I would like to thank the BCCI and Haryana Cricket Association [HCA] for giving my daughter the permission and support to play in the WBBL. Without the guidance of the HCA, whatever Shafali is doing in her career wouldn't have been possible." Further a BCCI official has also stated that the WBB might have the largest number of Indian players ever in this upcoming edition. “All players who have been or will be approached by Big Bash teams will be given all necessary permissions to participate in the WBBL this season," he said on the condition of anonymity. Shafali has represented India in 22 T20Is matches where she has scored 617 runs at an average of 29.38 and at a strike-rate of over 148. Radha Yadav on the other side has been capped 37 times in T20Is and once in ODIs. In the shorter format, she has played 37 games for India picking up 51 wickets at an average of 16.68 and at an economy of 6.28.