India is The No 1 Cricket Team in World

Australia dominated the world cricket for an entire decade and it is great to have now a cluster of sides eying for the number one spot. India snatched the top status away from South Africa this week, and it will only serve to make Graeme Smith's side even more determined in the upcoming Test series against England. Right now, we have India, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka and England all battling hard to establish themselves as the world's best - that's a very healthy state for cricket to be in. All it will take is for one of those five sides to have a powerful run of form through three or four Test series, and each are capable of doing so. In the case of India, still the question is whether they are capable of performing away from home on a regular basis, and that could be where South Africa sneak ahead. It is pretty ironic that India have risen to the top in a format which some people have accused them of neglecting, but it just goes to show that Test cricket is still in rude health and means a lot to sub-continental sides A quirk in the international schedule could see India lose their crown relatively quickly because they are due to play only two Test matches over the next 11 months. MS Dhoni has thoroughly impressed everyone in the way that he has led his side, and his positive attitude is clearly rubbing off on the rest of his players - you need a captain who energises the team and does not drain them. Dhoni is a firecracker of a player and his team obviously respect him immensely. India will end 2009 as the number one Test side in the world and they deserve to hold that status because of their incredible depth of batting and collection of match-winning bowlers. Test cricket is creating a huge amount of interest now as that group of sides battles it out at the top of the rankings, and those who doubt the importance of the longer format need only look at India's superb series with Sri Lanka. Its reall good news for test cricket in India!