New Delhi: Chief Executive Officer of the International Cricket Council, Haroon Lorgat, said on Monday that India deserved to be the No.1 team in test cricket and that their ascent to the top augurs well for the future of test cricket.

“India must be very excited about the achievement which they should be extremely proud of. They have done really well over the last 12-18 months and deserve this position,” Lorgat said. “Test cricket deserves a team like India to reach the top at some point of time and you cannot reach there without performing well. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team have done extremely well and I can also see how well the ICC ranking system is working. First Australia dominated it, then South Africa and now you have India at the number one.”

Lorgat said the heartening thing to see is the narrow gap among the top three-four teams in test cricket which shows the growing level of competitiveness in the game.”It is very competitive at the top. For that number one spot, you have India, Australia and South Africa challenging each other. It makes Test cricket a lot more exciting,” he explained.

India being arguably the most cricket crazy nation, their climb to the top couldn’t have come at a better time with the longest version of the game facing stiff competition from the growing popularity of T20 cricket. Lorgat, however, said that whenever there is something major — like a world number one tag — at stake, Test cricket would continue to draw crowd.

“As shown over the years, we all have concerns about poor crowd turn-up. But whenever India is playing and there is something at stake, there will be lot of interest in Test cricket,” he said.

Incidentally, the British press cried foul about India becoming the No.1 team demanding an overhaul of the ranking system. Lorgat responded to the demands saying that there was nothing called perfect but this was the best that the ICC has got for now.

“See, there is always room for improvement but this is the best possible way we have. And don’t forget that this system was developed over the years,” the ICC CEO said.

Asked about the controversy regarding the referral system with the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara and star spinner Muttiah Muralitharan being upset with the standard of umpiring against India and both of them feeling that Decision Review System (DRS) should have been used in this series, Lorgat said that there were some technical issues involved.

“We are mindful of that but we have to first ensure that it’s technically possible. We want to push it as long as it is technically possible and cost-effective. The technology involved has to be reliable. We just cannot force it on everyone,” he explained.

Lorgat also squashed all media reports that had claimed English umpire Mark Benson was contemplating retirement after one of his decision was overruled by DRS during the Australia-West Indies Test series. “This is completely untrue. Benson has been a strong supporter of the system and his return home has nothing to do with it. He is not well and that’s why he is returning home. I’m sure once he reached England, he would issue a clarification,” Lorgat said.

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