da bwin： India have fallen to third position in the ICC’s Test Championship table following their 1-0 series loss to Pakistan
da brwin： Cricinfo staff02-Feb-2006India have fallen to third position in the ICC’s Test Championship table following their 1-0 series loss to Pakistan.Having drawn the first two Tests at Lahore and Faisalabad, India suffered a crushing 341-run loss at Karachi yesterday, cutting their rating from 115 points to 111 and dropping them just behind England. India occupied the number two slot for over a month, following a 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka and England’s 2-0 defeat against Pakistan. However, with England due to tour India for three Tests later this month, the latter have an opportunity to regain their position.Pakistan’s victory over India gave them five rating points – they now stand on 108 – even though they have not moved up from their fourth-placed position. Pakistan play Sri Lanka in late March, and a series win will give them a very good shot at the No.2 spot. Australia, with 129 points, sit head and shoulders above the rest of the opposition.
1 Australia 129 2 England 1133 India 1114 Pakistan 1085 New Zealand 1006 South Africa 997 Sri Lanka 968 West Indies 739 Zimbabwe 2710 Bangladesh 5As for individual batsmen, Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, has slipped to sixth place – and his lowest career ranking for two years – following a poor showing in the Karachi Test. While not in the top five, he remains India’s highest-ranked batsman. Similarly, Virender Sehwag slipped down two places to ninth, Sachin Tendulkar to 12th, and VVS Laxman to 23rd. There was good news for Yuvraj Singh, though, whose second Test hundred moved him up 23 places to joint 44th with Salman Butt, the Pakistan opener. Sourav Ganguly’s battling innings at Karachi saw him remain at the 40th position.Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, holds firm at No.3 despite missing the third Test due to a back injury, with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf – who tormented India in the series – occupying the seventh and eight positions respectively. Kamran Akmal, whose brilliant hundred rescued Pakistan from 39 for 6 on the first day at Karachi, moved up 14 places to the 36th spot.
1 Ricky Ponting 922 2 Jacques Kallis 8883 Brian Lara8744 Matthew Hayden 8585 Inzamam-ul-Haq 856In the bowling stakes, Irfan Pathan moved up three places to 12th after becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the first over of a Test while Anil Kumble held steady at the 11th spot. For Pakistan, Mohammad Asif moved up a massive 64 places to 64th after destroying the cream of India’s batting on the fourth day. Abdul Razzaq jumped up seven places to grab the 29th spot, his best ranking, Danish Kaneria’s indifferent series saw him slip two places to 15th, while Shoaib Akhtar retained his hold of the No.7 position in a series dominated by the bat.
1 Glenn McGrath 853 2 Muttiah Muralitharan 8453 Shane Warne 8424 Andrew Flintoff 7815 Makhaya Ntini 778For full details of the current ICC Test Championship and Player Rankings, and how future results will impact the table, click here.
