A retrospective: How the mace has changed hands
A dramatic 63-run victory over South Africa in the third and final Test at Wanderers in Johannesburg helped India retain the ICC Test Championship mace for the second successive year and pocket the $1 million reward to go with it.
Despite losing the three-match Test series 2-1, the win in the final Test ensured that come the 3 April 2018 cut-off date, the Virat Kohli-led unit remained No.1 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, capping off a stellar year for India in Tests.
South Africa ended the Test series with 115 points, as against India’s 121, and even a 4-0 win over Australia in the four-match Test series, which starts on 1 March, will not help them overtake the Indians on the rankings chart.
This is the fourth time that India will be presented with the prestigious mace. They previously won it in 2010 and 2011 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni before Virat Kohli became the 10th captain to get his hands on it in October 2016.
The mace, a symbol of excellence and a recognition of a side’s outstanding performance in Test cricket, is handed over to the team that holds the highest rating on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings. From when it was first presented in 2003, Australia dominated the top spot on the rankings chart till 2009. Since then, the mace has changed hands a number of times, with India, South Africa, England and Pakistan enjoying their time at the summit.
**Australia (2003-09, 2016)**No other side has quite dominated the rankings like Australia. From the start of the century till the late 2000s, the men from Down Under were unstoppable.
Steve Waugh was the first captain to get his hands on the prize.
In the 2001/02 season, Australia won nine of the 14 Tests they played. The 2002/03 season was more remarkable with them winning seven out of the eight Tests they were a part of, which included a 3-0 rout of Pakistan and a triumphant 2002/03 Ashes campaign.
The following season saw Ricky Ponting take over the captaincy from Waugh, who retired in 2004. With players such as Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the side, Australia remained an indomitable force for the next five years.
However, with the retirement of key members, Australia lost their top spot to India in 2009.
The last time Australia got a chance to hold the mace was two years ago when the Steve Smith-led side finished the 2015/16 season in pole position.
**India (2009-11, 2017)**A string of series wins over Sri Lanka (2-0) and Bangladesh (2-0), and a drawn Test series against South Africa (1-1) at home helped India pip Australia to the top spot. This was the first time since the inception of the ICC Test rankings that the mace had changed hands.
An equally strong season followed where India drew Test series in Sri Lanka and South Africa and got past Australia and New Zealand at home. Five wins in 11 Tests ensured the Dhoni’s side retained the mace for a second successive year.
A dismal show in England and Australia, however, saw them surrender their No.1 position to England in August 2011. It took India five years to reclaim the top spot, but a succession of wins starting from a 2-1 series victory in Sri Lanka in 2015 has ensured they have since remained there for the most part.
**England (2012)**England started their 2011/12 season with a 1-0 series win against Sri Lanka at home. Next up, they confronted India, the No.1 side at the time, at home. England, clinical in all three facets of the game, routed the visitors in a convincing 4-0 victory.
**South Africa (2013-2015)**The 2012/13 season belonged to South Africa. Led by Graeme Smith, and with AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn in their ranks, their rise to the top was unstoppable. The hallmark of South Africa’s season was that, unlike for India and England, a lot of their wins came in away Tests.
South Africa started off by first crushing England, the No.1 side, 2-0 in England. They then travelled to Australia and won the three-match Test series 1-0 before inflicting two back-to-back innings defeats on New Zealand at home. They ended their remarkable season by trumping the touring Pakistanis 3-0.
The 2013/14 season was a mixed bag. They started off by squaring the three-match series against Pakistan 1-1 and winning the two-match Test series against the visiting Indians 1-0. However, a 2-1 loss to Australia at home dented them somewhat. They still managed to hold on to the No.1 spot, though.
Amla was handed captaincy duties following Smith’s retirement after the final Test against Australia. He started off with a 1-0 win in Sri Lanka, before capping off the 2014/15 season with wins over Zimbabwe and Windies. South Africa became only the second side after Australia to retain the mace three years in succession.
Notable mention
Pakistan briefly held the mace in 2016, although they couldn't stay on top by the cut-off date for the prize. Their rise was built on solid series victories against Bangladesh (1-0), Sri Lanka (2-1) in 2015 and England (2-0). Misbah-ul-Haq’s team then travelled to England in 2016, levelling the four-match Test series 2-2 at The Oval, a result that helped them overtake India to the top of the ladder for two months between August 2016 and October 2016.