Where Does the Indian National Team Rank Globally?

Cricket is one of the biggest sports in the world. In fact, with 2.5 billion fans, it is the second most dominant sport around the globe, next only to soccer. The sport is especially popular in Southern Asia and Oceania, where some of the most highly ranked cricketers have come from in the past couple of decades.

The sport is especially popular in India, where millions of fans of the game reside. Cricket was brought over to India in the 1800s, during England’s rule of the country. Over the years, the English love of cricket has veined, being mainly supplanted by football, whereas the Indian love of the sport has only grown with time.

In India, cricket is played from a young age for fun or for exercise. It is the most watched sport in the country, and it is the most popular betting sport among Indians. Cricket betting at betting-sites.in is one of the most popular pastimes among Indian punters, with football being close second.

The Indian national team is also one of the most accomplished teams in the world right now. They especially dominated the scene in the past decade, winning the 2011 World Cup, the 2013 Champions Trophy and finishing as runner-ups in multiple competitions. But how does the team compare to other national teams that have achieved great feats over the years?

The Rankings

In the three forms of cricket which are played on an international level, the Indian team ranks in the top 5 on each list. The International Cricket Council ranks the Indian team third in Test cricket, behind New Zealand (2^nd) and Australia (1^st). In this ranking they come out ahead of some truly great teams, most notably the English, South African, and Pakistani national cricket teams.

In terms of Twenty20 International Cricket, India is ranked second, with a rating of 267, and over 9000 points attained during the course of 36 matches. This ranking puts the Indian team ahead of both New Zealand and Australia, as well as Pakistan and South Africa. In this category, the English are ranked number 1, coming ahead of the Indian team by less than 1000 points, with a ranking of 269.

The final ICC ranking is the ODI cricket ranking. This is India’s worst category, yet they are still ranked in the top 5, coming in at fourth place. This placement puts them ahead of teams like Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies, and South Africa. However, they are behind the usual suspects, New Zealand, Australia, and England.

The Indian National Team in the 2010s

The Indian national cricket team truly showed their mettle like never before. They started out the decade strong, by winning the 2011 World Cup, with a nigh-flawless victory. They won almost all of their matches, only taking one loss, against South Africa, and ending their game against the English in a tie.

Two years later, they proved that their showing in the World Cup was not a fluke, by winning the Champions Trophy. Held in England, the Indian team defeated the host country in the final, securing their position as victors, and drawing the attention of a global audience.

It was not all sunshine and roses, however. In 2014, the Indian team toured Australia, failing to get even a single win. Many believed the domination of the Indian team was coming to an end. However, they proved them wrong in the second half of the decade, when the boys absolutely dominated the Test cricket scene. By decade’s end, the Indian team had the best win-loss ratio in Test cricket and the highest win percentage among all the major Test teams.

Truly, the 2010s were the year of India, when it comes to the world of cricket.