India will enter the ICC World Test Championship as number one in the rankings ©Getty Images

A month before the two sides meet in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship at Kennington Oval in London, India have moved above Australia to lead the ICC Test rankings.

India are now top because the rankings take account of the last two years in a ranking formula which gives most weight to the most recent series played.

This means a defeat at the hands of New Zealand in 2019-2020 no longer counts towards India's points in the standings.

India beat Australia 2-1 in the most recent series between the sides which finished in March.

Australia’s home series victories over Pakistan and New Zealand in the 2019-2020 southern hemisphere summer now fall outside the eligible time period.

The Australians had taken over as top Test nation in January 2022 as a result of a convincing 4-0 home Ashes victory against England in 2021-2022 but this now only has half weighting in the table.

England benefit by the regulations to close the gap on Australia because of impressive performances under new captain Ben Stokes.

Their defeats against Australia and the West Indies now carry only half weight.

Their victories in the 2022 northern hemisphere summer against New Zealand, India and South Africa have closed the gap and have been followed by wins on tour in Pakistan and a shared series in New Zealand.

The other teams in the Test rankings remain unchanged.

Ireland and Afghanistan have not yet played sufficient Test cricket to qualify for the rankings.

India beat Australia in their most recent Test series ©Getty Images
India beat Australia in their most recent Test series ©Getty Images

India have consolidated their position at the top of the T20 rankings, though England stay second despite winning the ICC T20 World Cup last November.

New Zealand have overtaken Pakistan and South Africa and move up to third.

The biggest risers are Hong Kong who improve three places to 18th and the United States who have gone up from 25th to 22nd.

The rankings now include 84 nations who have played the minimum six T20 international matches over the past three years.

Turkey drop out of the list because they have not fulfilled this criteria.

Brazil, Chile, Iran, Mexico and Peru have not played at all since May 2020 so they lose their ranking.

The ICC are expected to issue the revised listings for one-day international matches on May 10, following the conclusion of Pakistan’s series against New Zealand.

Pakistan currently lead the series 2-0 after the first two matches.