India continues to be ranked at the top in men’s ODIs and T20Is following the yearly update that the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday. India is currently ranked second in the Test rankings, with Australia holding the top spot.

According to the ICC, all series finished since May 2021 are reflected in the annual update for the Test rankings, which excludes results from the 2020–21 season. With 124 rating points, Australia, the victors of the World Test Championship, are currently top of the table.

India, who lost the top spot to them, is only four points ahead of third-place England and fifteen points ahead of them. With 103 points, South Africa is the fourth team above the 100-point threshold. India’s decline was primarily caused by their 2020–21 2-1 series win in Australia being removed from the rankings.

The teams that placed third through ninth are still in the same order. There are currently just nine countries in the rankings because Afghanistan, Ireland, and Zimbabwe have not played enough Test matches. Zimbabwe has only played three Test matches in the last three years. To be listed on the rankings table, a team must participate in eight Test matches within a three-year period.

India leads the ODI and T20I standings in terms of white-ball matches; according to the annual update, matches played before May 2023 are worth 50% of the total points, and matches played after then are worth 100%.

Despite losing to Australia in the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup final, India now leads the standings with 122 points, up from three points to six. The top ten remains unchanged, however Ireland has moved up to the eleventh spot, surpassing Zimbabwe.

In other changes, Scotland moved up to 12th place, surpassing Zimbabwe, and Pakistan fell two spots to seventh. Outside the top 20, Spain (moving up from 33rd to 30th), the Isle of Man (moving up from 44th to 41st), and Switzerland (moving up from 50th to 45th) have had the largest rating increases.

India’s star cricketer and Mumbai Indians former captain Rohit Sharma on Thursday finally opened on why MI’s captainship was given to Hardik Pandya before the beginning of IPL 2024. 

Rohit Sharma acknowledged  this by saying that not everything goes your way. Being removed from Mumbai’s captaincy was a shock to many in the cricket world and a bitter pill to swallow for Rohit’s horde of fans, many of whom also booed Hardik during the team’s opening games this IPL season.

The roles of Hardik and Rohit Sharma will be switched during the T20 World Cup, which will begin on June 2. As part of MI’s significant leadership transition, which has not gone as expected, Rohit is currently playing under Hardik. He will return as Pandya’s captain for the crucial ICC match. For the majority of his career, Rohit has served as Hardik’s captain and senior, but the events of the last month and the upcoming 30 days threaten to alter the relationship.

Rohit emphasized, but not in a bad way, describing how playing under Hardik before returning to captain him would not throw off the rhythm. He also said, it is part of life. When questioned by the media about his experience playing in the ongoing Indian Premier League under Pandya, the Indian captain responded, it has been a great experience.

The 37-year-old received criticism for not scoring enough runs with the willow in the preceding three seasons, but in the competition’s 17th edition, he had an entirely different appearance. Whatever is there and you go by it and then try and do what is required from you as a player. He said he has only tried to do that in the last one month. In 10 IPL 2024 innings, India’s skipper Rohit has already scored 314 runs.

Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan has a special message for the Indian cricket team who are getting ready to play the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. The legendary actor shared a video in which he assumed the role of Ashwatthama, his character from the upcoming film, Kalki 2898 AD, and motivated the players of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The video was shared by the official social media accounts of the Nag Ashwin film, Kalki 2898 AD and began with Amitabh Bachchan announcing, Ye mahayudh hai, ab hoja tu taiyaar (This is a war, get ready for it). Through his poetry, the megastar tried to pump up the players as he said, Ab ban ja veer, buland kar le apni taqdeer, dikha dum, laga dum (Now, become brave, elevate your destiny, show your strength, put in effort). The video has gone viral on social media with 87,505 likes till now which are only increasing.

As the Bollywood star narrated the poem with the background music of Kalki 2898 AD playing, visuals of the Indian cricket team played on the screen. Players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya, were seen along with former players like Harbhajan Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrating their victory on the cricket ground in the viral video.

In the end of the video the actor concluded with Maan mat tu jeet se kam, garv se uthe har matha, ye mahadwand hai, mahayudh, virodhi se tu nazrein mila, ab hoja tu taiyaar (Do not belittle yourself in front of victory, let every head rise with pride, this is a great struggle, a great battle, meet the opponent eye to eye, now get ready).

The video was shared with the caption, T20WorldCup2024 ka Shankhnaad ho chuka hai! @amitabhbachchan, #TeamIndia’s biggest cheerleader, has a special message. Star Sports lekar aaye hain yeh T20 World Cup ka Mahayudh! Are you Ready?