India Could Lose No.1 Test Team Tag to England

India may have a lot more at stake that merely losing a series overseas. With the no.1 Test team tag hanging over the India England series, England are licking their lips as India will go into their biggest battle yet to defend their title.

Indian cricket team

There have been question marks raised repeatedly not only over whether India deserved the no.1 Test team tag but also, about how long they could hold onto it. To the credit of the Indian cricket team, the Indian captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and the former Indian coach, Gary Kirsten, India were able to prove time and again and consistently that India have achieved success through a period of hard work that have yielded results.

However, even after their match ups against South Africa, the series against England will prove to the mother of all battles in many ways in the current scenario because England have leapfrogged South Africa in terms of rendering results although not in rank, making this the ideal lip smacking prospect of a clash. England have been on a roll themselves, and with the confidence from winning back to back Ashes, they are fairly confident given their rather long run on home turf in England, they will prove to be worthy competitors in the tussle.

England, however, are not merely willing to settle for the notion that they will be worthy challengers. If anything, England are hoping to take over the world scenario by trouncing the present no.1 team in the world. It is a tall order given that India have shown their ability to stick to their goals and the tag consistently and Andrew Strauss is aware of the factor. However, there have also been opinions that England are just as deserving of the title, and Kumar Sangakkara was amongst those voices.

It has been a rather phenomenal run for both teams in question and the validation comes from the fact that the no.1 Test status will be up for grabs depending on the outcome of the series. As if the series is not a mouth watering prospect enough to put pressure on both teams, now with the opportunity to be truly revered as the world’s best is one no team would want to pass up. England have been looking for the kind of recognition while India would not want England anywhere near that Test mace, which is why this series is expected to be fought tooth and nail.

Here are the permutations as projected by the ICC depending on how the outcome of the series may render the Test rankings. England will lead the table by three ratings points if it wins the series by two clear matches. In that scenario, India would hold on to second position with South Africa slipping to third. If the home team was to sweep the series 4-0, India would drop to third place although that is expected to be an unlikely scenario. A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for England will put its rating level with India's but India will still be top by a fraction of a point. A drawn series will ensure India stays six points clear at the top but with England edging ahead of South Africa into second position.

With so much at stake and even the outside prospect of a shake up, an already important and historic series just saw an enticing carrot dangling at the end of the stick.