With a convincing 95-run win over South Africa, Pakistan climbed to the fifth spot in the latest ICC Test Team Rankings. Pakistan has 90 points, while South Africa slip to the sixth spot with 89 points. Mohammad Rizwan once again showed why he is highly rated as he hit a brilliant century in the second essay to help Pakistan set up the win.

Kane Williamson-led New Zealand with 118.44 points are at the top of the table and are closely followed by India – who have 117.65 points. Australia who recently lost the Border-Gavaskar trophy to India is at the number three spot with 113 points, while 2019 World Cup champions England are on the fourth spot.

The much-awaited ICC World Test Championship will be played later this year in England and the race to the final is heating up after New Zealand managed to seal their berth for the summit clash.

For India to qualify, they need to beat England by 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, or 4-0 in the ongoing series.

And for England to make it through, they need to beat India 3-0, 3-1 or 4-0 in the ongoing series.

And for Australia – who were looking to make it up until the Border-Gavaskar trophy – will need to rely on the results of the India-England series. For Australia to qualify, one of the three scenarios has to play out – India beat England 1-0, England beat India 1-0, 2-0, or 2-1, or India and England draw the ongoing series either 0-0, 1-1, or 2-2. 

Things are getting really tricky, but experts believe this is a good way of promoting Test cricket and reviving the charm of the longer version.