India: Deserved of No. 1?

[honestbharani]

Well, if the 'title' itself mean's that much to you, then you should take great satisfaction that they are 'no.1' according to the ICC. However, given that you have conceded yourself that it's hardly a 'clear-cut' thing at the moment, not sure why you appear so outraged that others see it much the same way.

Because the claim is stupid... South Africa lost a recent series, didn't they and we haven't.. That is why we are up there... It is very much in their hands now and they could well be #1 after this series against England.. But we are juz #1 till that time. I don't see why anyone should think who deserves what, coz honestly, there is no real way to say one is better than the other at this point. All the contenders are equally consistent or inconsistent depending on your POV.


And yes the title means a hell of a lot to me and I am sure to other Indian cricket fans as till now we have never even been amongst the contenders and to be #1, by whatever criteria and whatever period, is still a bloody damn good achievement, given the circumstances we were in juz as recently as 2007.

 

[GotSpin]

In the last three years, India and Australia have an exact Win Loss record overseas.

Team records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

But I'm not claiming Australia deserves no.1

 

[Jono]

Not my fault they havn't played SA at home in three years. Nevertheless, if they can't defeat the top teams away they won't, in my eyes, deserve the title of number one. For years teams have struggled to win at India, but that didn't mean they deserved no1, and frankly the situation has barely changed except for a slight improvement in being able to defeat the Windies or England when away.

It's not best team ever.

It's best team right now.

No one is better except possibly South Africa, who lost at home to Australia.

 

[Sir Alex]

But I'm not claiming Australia deserves no.1

I am saying India is joint No.2 in terms of test wins abroad in the last few years in reply to your contention that India never wins overseas.

 

[GotSpin]

It's not best team ever.

It's best team right now.

No one is better except possibly South Africa, who lost at home to Australia.

I still rate South Africa higher (As much as it hurts to admit), who won away in Australia, the first team to do so in 15 years(?).

 

[Jono]

Okay so the criteria is beating Aust at home.

Good to know.

 

[GotSpin]

Okay so the criteria is beating Aust at home.

Good to know.

And South Africa.

Nah, don't let not being able to win away at the home of other top test nations stop you from enjoying this.

 

[Jono]

England are a top team. They just beat Australia.

Hopefully they beat South Africa too

 

[GotSpin]

We all know England aren't top 4 though.

 

[Sir Alex]

And South Africa.

And India.

 

[honestbharani]

We all know England aren't top 4 though.

so why is it so important to be able to beat a team that could not beat a below top 4 team?

 

[GotSpin]

so why is it so important to be able to beat a team that could not beat a below top 4 team?

For one. It was an away series for Australia.

Two, to give credibility for India's ranking

 

[honestbharani]

For one. It was an away series for Australia.

Two, to give credibility for India's ranking

What credibility? The ratings system has been around for a while now and no one has been complaining then... The system rewards current performances as much as anything and recently, India have lost less series than Australia or RSA..

 

[Matt79]

Not my fault they havn't played SA at home in three years. Nevertheless, if they can't defeat the top teams away they won't, in my eyes, deserve the title of number one. For years teams have struggled to win at India, but that didn't mean they deserved no1, and frankly the situation has barely changed except for a slight improvement in being able to defeat the Windies or England when away.

That's a pretty dumb argument. Number one team means you're better than all the other teams at any given time, not that you meet some empirical stNdard. If you wanted to debate whether it's a "great team", that argument would be relevant.

 

[Zinzan]

Because the claim is stupid...

Now you're contradicting yourself. On one hand you concede that it's not really 'clear-cut' as to who's the no.1 team of India, Aust & SA & now you're suggesting the same 'claim' is stupid.
That is unless you're talking about the claim that India are undeserved of the 'title' because from what I've seen, hardly anyone's venomously denied that. The only two things that been suggested is that 1) there is no clear-cut number one team atm & 2) some (including myself) have suggested their bowling attack isn't all that great....have I missed something?

 

[GotSpin]

That's a pretty dumb argument. Number one team means you're better than all the other teams at any given time, not that you meet some empirical stNdard. If you wanted to debate whether it's a "great team", that argument would be relevant.

Do you always miss the point or just now? I'm arguing that India isn't the best team.

 

[GotSpin]

What credibility? The ratings system has been around for a while now and no one has been complaining then... The system rewards current performances as much as anything and recently, India have lost less series than Australia or RSA..

This is simply credibility for me. The validity of the ratings system is not at question but whether the Indian side deserves No.1

 

[honestbharani]

Now you're contradicting yourself. On one hand you concede that it's not really 'clear-cut' as to who's the no.1 team of India, Aust & SA & now you're suggesting the same 'claim' is stupid.
That is unless you're talking about the claim that India are undeserved of the 'title' because from what I've seen, hardly anyone's venomously denied that. The only two things that been suggested is that 1) there is no clear-cut number one team atm & 2) some (including myself) have suggested their bowling attack isn't all that great....have I missed something?

Let me make it clear...


The rankings system has been around for a long time.


We have been ranked #1 as per the ratings...


We deserve it as per the system.


If you think we are not the clear cut number one, I agree.. If you think we do not deserve, no I am sorry, we do. The system rewards current and recent series performances and our current and recent series performances have been better than Australia and RSA.

 

[Sir Alex]

This is simply credibility for me. The validity of the ratings system is not at question but whether the Indian side deserves No.1

Perhaps SA deserves the rank. However they haven't won a series in India for years.

 

[GotSpin]

Perhaps SA deserves the rank. However they haven't won a series in India for years.

When did India last win a series in South Africa? Honest question, I have no idea.