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India has gained 19 ratings points from this series to post their highest rating since February 1999 of 1030 points. They have now overtaken West Indies to claim fifth place in the ratings. India last held the fifth ranking before their loss in Australia in January 2000.
This is disastrous news for West Indian cricket. The West Indies has never been ranked outside the top five Test cricket nations on their 72-year history.
This is the first time in India's 69 years of Test cricket that India has won a three Test series after losing the first Test. They have followed the example set by England last week in Sri Lanka.
This is a remarkable feat considering Australia arrived in India holding the world record of 15 consecutive victories and had equalled the third highest Test rating by any nation in history. India was decimated in the first Test and collapsed badly in their first innings in the second Test
However, Australia enforced the follow-on at the beginning of the third day in the second Test. Australia gave India the opportunity to bat on what are generally the best days of a Test pitch.
Waugh's predecessor, Mark Taylor, was a strong believer that in such a case you bat to a point that you can only win or draw the game. He did this against Queensland in his first game as captain of NSW in a Sheffield Shield final.
In this case, India gratefully accepted this present and made the most of it by making an innings of 7 declared for 657. India went on to win the Test and seize the initiative in the series. From there, armed with self belief, India knew they could beat Australia and did so again in the Third Test.
By losing this series, Australia's rating has now fallen back below the 1200 barrier to 1185 ratings points. They retain first place in the ratings, but their lead over South Africa has been cut to just 36 points.
Fortunately for Australia, South Africa can not overtake them in the series being played in the Caribbean. If South Africa was to win the final three Tests in that series they would move to 1169 points, just 16 points behind Australia. This would be the closest South Africa has been to Australia for twelve months.
Before the series, Stephen Waugh publicly stated that his team's place in history could be measured by the result of this series. Apart from having lost the series, it is clear that the team has problems away from their own backyard.
Few of the batsmen justified their positions. In addition, for long periods in the last two Tests the bowling attack never looked like taking a wicket. The move away from the 'horses for courses' selection policy to retaining a successful unit clearly did not pay off in this series.
All of this leads to the English public eagerly looking forward to the Ashes series in July with England having won their last four Test series.
The latest Test Cricket Ratings are: 1 Australia (1185); 2 South Africa (1150); 3 England (1059); 4 Pakistan (1053); 5 India (1030); 6 West Indies (1025); 7 New Zealand (988); 8 Sri Lanka (973); 9 Zimbabwe (911); 10 Bangladesh (876p - provisional).
