Nagpur, November 11:

Australia still hold a 13-point lead in the International Cricket Council (ICC) world Test standings, but their grip on the No 1-ranking appears to be loosening following a 2-0 series defeat to India on Monday.

The loss was Australia’s heaviest since going down 3-1 to the West Indies in 1988-89. Ricky Ponting’s winning percentage as captain now stands at 68.75 and has fallen below the mark of Steve Waugh (71.92), his world-beating predecessor. Australia will start next week’s two-Test series against New Zealand under pressure and their ranking — officially and unofficially

— will also be challenged with home-and-away series against South Africa over the next five months. The way Ponting’s team performed during the four Tests here also gave England hope of reclaiming the Ashes in 2009.

Former captain Ian Botham said last week that England would win easily because of Australia’s seemingly weak bowling attack, which is still rebuilding after losing long-standing spearheads Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

India, who moved to second position in the Test rankings, are riding a wave of success under new skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. They will face England in a seven-match limited-overs series starting next week, followed by two Test matches in December.

Dhoni, who led India to the Twenty20 World Cup title last year, stepped into the leadership role for two Tests this series — first when former captain Anil Kumble had a right shoulder injury at Mohali, and when Kumble retired on the final day of the drawn third match. Both times when Dhoni was in charge, India won convincingly.

Like Australia, India now start a rebuilding phase following the exits of former captains Kumble and Sourav Ganguly, who retired after the fourth Test. Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar are also at the latter stages, but Ganguly said the series win was an important boost.