Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli walks with a wicket post after winning the fifth and final Test cricket match between India and England at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on December 20, 2016. (AFP / ARUN SANKAR)
Chennai: India will end 2016 as the world's top-ranked Test side after their 4-0 series thrashing of England, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement yesterday.
Virat Kohli's side humbled England by a innings and 75 runs in the fifth and final Test in Chennai to extend their unbeaten run to 18 matches, the longest they have ever gone without defeat.
The series win took India to 120 points in the ICC standings, 15 points ahead of second-placed Australia, while England's defeat saw them slip from second to fifth position.
"(India) can't be overtaken this year since the team rankings are updated only at the end of each Test series," the ICC said in an emailed statement.
India have also registered series wins against the West Indies and New Zealand this year as part of their unbeaten run.
India have triumphed in five straight series under Kohli, and are now unbeaten in 18 Tests, beating their previous best-ever run of 17 matches which was set back in 1987.
Meanwhile, Kohli said that it was the nature of the victories that pleased him more than the series win.
"Toss was out of the equation, pitches were out of the equation," Kohli said.
"We were up against big totals, we ended up winning by an innings both times we conceded 400 in the last two games.
"That doesn't happen too much in test cricket, especially with a side that's not that experienced. So it speaks volumes of the belief that we have in the change room."
