India retain ICC Test mace, Proteas bank R2.85m

Cape Town - India have retained the ICC Test Championship Mace and won the purse of $1 million for a third year running after finishing at the top of the ICC Test Team Rankings on the cut-off date of April 1.

A top place finish was never in doubt for Virat Kohli's Indian team, while New Zealand's consistent performances over the past year saw them climb to second position.

The Kane Williamson-led side, who won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award for 2018, earned $ 500 000 after finishing with 108 points, eight points behind India.

South Africa, who had finished second the previous two times, will now get a prize money of $200 000 (R2.85 million) for finishing third with 105 points while Australia who edged out England on decimal points at 104 points to bag $100 000.

Newly appointed ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney congratulated the Indian team while reiterating the importance of Test cricket and looking forward to the start of the ICC World Test Championship later this year.

"Test cricket has been enjoying a purple patch over the last couple of years with more positive results than ever and a genuine competitive balance between nations. The World Test Championship gets underway in August and will give fans greater context for all Test cricket providing an undisputed conclusion to some of the most renowned cricket rivalries in the international game," said Sawhney.

"Nine Test nations will compete across 27 series and 71 Test matches to reach the ICC World Test Championship Final in 2021 where the World Test Champions will be crowned."

"Retaining the ICC Test Championship Mace once again is something we are all really proud of," said Kohli.

"Our team has been doing well across formats but it gives us extra pleasure to come out on top of the Test rankings. We all know of the importance of Test cricket and of how only the best can prosper in the format.

"Our team has a lot of depth and I am sure this will stand us in good stead once the ICC World Test Championship commences later this year. That is again something we are really looking forward to as it adds more context to Test match cricket."

ICC Test team rankings:

1. India - 116

2. New Zealand - 108

3. South Africa - 105

4. Australia - 104

5. England - 104

6. Sri Lanka - 93

7. Pakistan - 88

8. West Indies - 77

9. Bangladesh - 68

10. Zimbabwe - 13

Previous winners: