India lose top spot in ICC Test rankings to Australia
Dubai: India lost the top spot in the ICC Test rankings to Australia on Friday, dropping to third after their stupendous 2016-17 record was eliminated from the annual update as per rules.
India yielded the top spot in Test rankings for the first time since October 2016 but continue to lead the ICC World Test Championship, a league comprising six series played by each of the top nine sides.
India dropped in the ladder largely because the record of 12 Tests victories and just one Test defeat in 2016-17 was removed in the latest chart, the ICC said in a statement.
Virat Kohli's men had won all five series during that period including against Australia and England. On the other hand, Australia had lost to South Africa as well as to India in the same period.
The latest update rates all the matches played since May 2019 at 100 per cent and those of the previous two years at 50 per cent.
Australia not only moved to the top of the Test rankings but also grabbed the no.1 spot in the T20I list for the first time while England continued to lead the men's ODI rankings after the annual update, which eliminates results from 2016-17.
Australia now have 116 points and are followed by New Zealand (115) and India (114).
With only two points separating them, this is the second closest the top three teams have been since the Test rankings were launched in 2003.
The closest for the top three teams was in January 2016, when India had led Australia and South Africa by a single point. South Africa have suffered the biggest rating fall of eight points, which sees them drop below Sri Lanka into sixth place.
They had won three series in the period culled, while lost eight of their nine Tests since February 2019, playing against Sri Lanka, India and England.
In the ODI team rankings, reigning world champions England (127) have increased their lead over India from six to eight points.
New Zealand remain in third place, three points behind India. The top ten rankings remain unchanged.
In contrast, the updated T20I team Rankings see plenty of changes. Australia (278) top the list for the first time since the T20I rankings were introduced in 2011.
Pakistan, who had overtaken New Zealand to reach top position in January 2018 and then spent 27 months there, are now fourth with 260 points.
England have moved into second position with 268 points while India are up one place to third, just two points behind.
Afghanistan are down from seventh to 10th while Bulgaria are the biggest gainers, up 12 places to 51st in the 84-country list of teams that played the requisite six matches in the past three years.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
