Australian pace sensation Mitchell Johnson's furious pace onslaught is reportedly one of the factors responsible for the fact that the team is on the verge of moving into second place on the official Test rankings.
Sitting in fourth place before the Ashes series earlier this summer, Australia is on the charge, and New Zealand is not far behind after they beat India 1-0 in the just completed series, aided and abetted by captain Brendon McCullum scoring an amazing triple century to ensure a drawn second Test.
According to News.com.au, Australia's first Test victory at Pretoria, when Johnson blew away South Africa with 12 wickets, has left Australia needing only a drawn series to move past India into second place on the rankings behind South Africa.
The report mentioned that this winter, Australia went top in the one-day rankings after thrashing England 4-1 and is closing the gap in the Test rankings after beginning the season in fourth place thanks to a 5-0 whitewash of England.
Australia is currently ranked 6th in Twenty20 internationals but Michael Clarke no longer plays T20 for Australia and there are so few matches that if Australia has a good World T20 under George Bailey next month that can change significantly.
The 1-0 series loss has seen India slip from 117 ratings points to 112 ratings points, just one ahead of Australia while South Africa is already guaranteed the number-one position at the April 1 cut-off, the report added.
