The debate around which is the greatest team in the cricketing world has been intense in the last couple of decades.
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When one looks at the current ICC rankings, New Zealand are the top team in the world currently in Tests. India are a close second behind followed by Australia and England. When it comes to ODIs and T20Is, England are the dominant force currently in the game. Australia and India are also snapping at England’s heels. The likes of South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh are lagging behind. However, when it comes to which team is the greatest in the modern era, there is a lot of debate.
For many in the Indian sub-continent, the divide is between India and Australia while England sometimes stake a claim. What is the benchmark to state the best team in the world? There is this one factor that is often overshadowed by numbers. If a team wins consistently in all formats, be it ODIs, Tests and T20Is, then that team has the claim to fame when it comes to being called the best team in the world.
Nowadays, teams have established a certain pattern. They dominate at home but struggle overseas. In the recent tour of Australia, India lost the ODIs in Australia but won the T20Is and Tests. For New Zealand, they have been undefeated at home. Overseas, they were whitewashed 3-0 in Australia. England, on the other hand, has won series in all formats against South Africa and also recently won in Sri Lanka. But, in India, they have struggled with only one series win in the last 36 years.
There have been three periods of domination in the world of cricket. The West Indies team dominated for 21 years at home and for 15 years in overseas conditions. They did not lose a single Test series from 1974 to 1995 at home and they lost only one series in that entire period from 1977 to 1995. They won two World Cups as well in 1975 and 1979. The West Indies team were the first entity to thoroughly dominate cricket.
Australia stepped up towards the end of the 90s and from 1992 to 2008, they established a level of dominance at home and away. Australia won three World Cups in 1999, 2003 and 2007. They also won two ICC Champions Trophies in 2006 and 2009. They did not lose a single Test series at home for 16 years. Away, India were the final frontier but in 2004, they won a Test series after 35 years.
From 2006 to 2014, South Africa dominated the Test charts and they secured wins overseas against England and Australia. Against India, they drew 1-1 and also became one of the few non-Asian nations to win a series in Pakistan in 2007. The Proteas won a series in Sri Lanka in 2014 but their returns in ODI cricket were a bit inconsistent with regular failings in the ICC events.
If one has to look at which team has dominated throughout the entire period of cricket, then the mantle has to go to Australia. They are the only nation in the history of the game to win 1000 games combined across all formats. Australia are the only nation to have a positive head-to-head record against every nation in Tests. In ODIs, barring South Africa, Australia has won more games against every nation. In T20Is, they have struggled a bit with only 70 wins as they are behind Pakistan, India and South Africa.
Australia are on the cusp of becoming the first nation to win 400 Tests while they are the second team along with India to win over 500 ODIs. For such numbers over a 144-year period, Australia are truly the best team in cricket despite their dominance being on the wane for the last couple of years.
