Rediff.com« Back to articlePrint this article

India down to third in Test rankings

February 02, 2006 17:23 IST

India's 1-0 series loss to Pakistan cost them the coveted status of second-best Test team in the world, in the latest LG ICC Test rankings.

Greg Chappell's men slipped down to third place after losing the third Test and series against Pakistan in Karachi on Wednesday.

The huge 341-run defeat cut India's rating points from 115 to 111 and dropped them to third place below England, who have 113 points.

Australia are way ahead at the top with 129 points.

For Pakistan, the series triumph not only made amends for the 2-1 home defeat at the hands of their archrivals two years ago, but also boosted their rating in the Test Championship table.

Although they haven't moved up and remain in fourth position, Pakistan still gained five rating points because of the victory and now have 108 points, just three behind India.

India held the second spot in the ICC Test Championship table for just over a month, having assumed that position in late December after a 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka, coupled with England's 2-0 drubbing in Pakistan.

However, India can draw solace from the fact that they will not have to wait for long to regain the second spot as they face Michael Vaughan's side in March in a three-match Test series at home.

Pakistan are also now very much in the battle for second place as they have a series against Sri Lanka in March.

In the ICC Player Rankings, India skipper Rahul Dravid's twin failures in Karachi cost him a place among the top five batsmen.

Dravid is now in sixth place and although he remains India's top-ranked batsman, his rating and ranking is his lowest in two years.

Dravid is not the lone Indian batsmen to slip down the rankings. Despite a double century at Lahore, Virender Sehwag is down two places to ninth while Sachin Tendulkar slips one rung to 12th and VVS Laxman has gone two notches down to 23rd.

India's one ray of light in the batting listings is Yuvraj Singh, who scored his second Test hundred in Karachi.

Yuvraj moved up 23 places and is now joint-44th (along with Pakistan opener Salman Butt), the first time in the top 50. 

Pakistan retained three batsmen in the top ten places, with Inzamam-ul Haq, who missed the third Test with a back injury, in fifth place, along with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf.

India's nemisis in the just-concluded Test series, stand-in skipper Younis Khan, who was adjudged the man of the series, moves up one rung to seventh, while Mohammed Yousuf

jumped a place to eighth. Both players are close to their career-best haul of rating points.

The Pakistan-India series was something of a graveyard for bowlers and at the end of it, only one player from either side -- Shoaib Akhtar, in seventh -- is in the top ten.

 

LG ICC Test Championship (after the Pakistan v India series)
Rank/Team Rating
1 Australia 129
2 England 113
3 India 111
4 Pakistan 108
5 New Zealand 100
6 South Africa 99
7 Sri Lanka 96
8 West Indies 73
9 Zimbabwe 27
10 Bangladesh 5
(Developed by David Kendix)

LG ICC Test Rankings

After the third Test, Pakistan v India

Batsmen

Rank +/- Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 922 57.71 922 v SA at Sydney 2006
2 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 888 57.24 896 v Eng at Cape Town 2005
3 ( - ) Brian Lara WI 874 53.86 911 v SA at Cape Town 2004
4 (+2) Matthew Hayden Aus 858 54.17 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
5 ( - ) Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 856 51.72 870 v Eng at Lahore 2005
6 (-2) Rahul Dravid Ind 825 57.65 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
7 (+1) Younis Khan Pak 807 48.43 822 v Ind at Faisalabad 2006
8 (+1) Mhd Yousuf Pak 793 50.75 797 v Ind at Faisalabad 2006
9 (-2) Virender Sehwag Ind 777 54.75 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
10 ( - ) M.E.Trescothick Eng 768 45.47 818 v Pak at Multan 2005
11 (+1) S.Chanderpaul WI 711 45.94 811 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2005
12 (-1) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 705 56.14 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
13 ( - ) M.Jayawardene SL 699 47.80 836 v Eng at Birmingham 2002
14 ( - ) H.H.Gibbs SA 692 46.82 825 v WI at Centurion 2004
15 ( - ) Andrew Strauss Eng 690 46.31 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
16 ( - ) Adam Gilchrist Aus 687 50.18 874 v SA at Cape Town 2002
17 ( - ) Justin Langer Aus 686 45.72 780 v SA at Sydney 2002
18 ( - ) Damien Martyn Aus 676 47.96 848 v NZ at Wellington 2005
19 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 674 51.54 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
20 ( - ) K.C.Sangakkara SL 668 46.60 813 v Pak at Lahore 2002

Bowlers

Rank +/- Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 ( - ) Glenn McGrath Aus 853 21.55 914 v Eng at The Oval 2001
2 ( - ) M.Muralitharan SL 845 22.47 915 v Pak at Lahore 2002
3 ( - ) Shane Warne Aus 842 25.15 905 v Eng at Melbourne 1994
4 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 781 31.51 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
5 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 778 29.22 807 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2005
6 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 775 28.81 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
7 ( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 766 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
8 ( - ) Andre Nel SA 763 * 26.22 763 v Aus at Sydney 2006
9 ( - ) Shaun Pollock SA 742 22.76 909 v Eng at Johannesburg 1999
10 ( - ) Matt' Hoggard Eng 730 30.07 762 v Aus at The Oval 2005
11 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 705 28.87 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
12 (+3) Irfan Pathan Ind 699 * 29.55 761 v SL at Delhi 2005
13 (-1) Shane Bond NZ 696 * 20.80 696 v Zim at Bulawayo 2005
14 ( - ) Steve Harmison Eng 679 28.72 875 v WI at The Oval 2004
15 (-2) Danish Kaneria Pak 662 31.61 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
16 ( - ) Shabbir Ahmed Pak 615 * 23.03 647 v Eng at Multan 2005
17 (+1) Simon Jones Eng 606 * 28.22 631 v Aus at Nottingham 2005
18 (-1) Harbhajan Singh Ind 605 29.71 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
19 ( - ) Jason Gillespie Aus 604 26.61 812 v NZ at Adelaide 2004
20 ( - ) Corey Collymore WI 600 * 31.36 600 v Aus at Adelaide 2005

LG ICC Test all-rounder rankings

Rank Player Country Points
1 Jacques Kallis SA 496
2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 454
3 Shaun Pollock SA 340
4 Irfan Pathan Ind 299 */*
5 Daniel Vettori NZ 279
* denotes provisional ranking.