Dubai, Feb 19 (IANS) International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat Friday congratulated India on finishing as No.1 team in the Test Championship table following their innings victory over South Africa in the Kolkata Test.

South Africa finished in second position at the cut-off date of April 1 in the ICC Test Championship. India, after losing the first Test at Nagpur, needed to win the second at Kolkata's Eden Garden to retain the top postion in Tests. They won, with just nine balls to spare, in a thrilling conquest Thursday.

It is also the first time in seven years that Australia have not finished the season as the number-one Test-playing side in the world.

'I have written to both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA), congratulating them on an outstanding series. The final Test in Kolkata again underlined the unique attraction of Test match cricket, which is the pinnacle of our great sport,' Lorgat said Friday.

'This titanic struggle follows on similarly captivating Test matches in Cardiff, Centurion, Cape Town, Sydney, Perth and Dunedin and demonstrates once again why Test match cricket captivates broadcasters, media, spectators and television viewers across the globe,: he said in his message.

'Test cricket continues from strength to strength and I believe that the competitiveness of the sort we witnessed in Kolkata underlines that belief. Congratulations to Mahendra Singh Dhoni and India on their remarkable achievement,' he said.