Two recent test matches have been played; in one, Bangladesh surprised no-one by defeating Zimbabwe in a solitary game. But in the other, an Indian side that has recently seemed near-unbeatable was demolished in its first game on tour in New Zealand. New Zealand have a decent side right now, recently also saw off England, and India have lost some away tours in recent years. The tour isn't lost yet, of course (a second game begins on Friday), but the large margin of the home victory is certainly a shock, and has the effect of taking India down a peg in my world rankings. The current standings show a much reduced Indian lead over a recently resurgent Australia:
India 234 -25
Australia 220
England 195
New Zealand 153 +26
Sri Lanka 84
Pakistan 83
South Africa 59
West Indies -13
Bangladesh -122 +9
Zimbabwe -251 -9
Afghanistan -303
Ireland -339
The Indian lead over their nearest rival was as high as 97 in November last year, and as many as 110 in August 2017; now it's just 14 points. The official world ratings now look like this:
India 120
Australia 108
England 105
New Zealand 105
South Africa 98
Sri Lanka 91
Pakistan 85
West Indies 81
Bangladesh 61 +1
Afghanistan 49
Zimbabwe 17
Ireland 0
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