India needs series sweep against Lanka to think of 2nd spot

India will still depend on the outcome of SA-England series even after a 3-0 sweep against SL to rise to the second spot in ICC Test rankings.

India will still depend on the outcome of South Africa-England series even after a 3-0 sweep against Sri Lanka to rise to the second spot in ICC Test rankings.

India, currently ranked third behind Australia and South Africa, needs to sweep the series against fifth-placed Sri Lanka and hope South Africa wins its series in England 2-1 for Anil Kumble’s side to occupy second place.

In that case, India will have 118 points to its kitty as compared to South Africa’s 116.

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If India wins 2-1 and South Africa also wins by the same margin, Kumble’s side will still be at third though the gap with the Proteas will be reduced to just one ratings point.

A shared series in Sri Lanka and South Africa winning 2-1 in England will mean India will have 112 ratings points, compared to South Africa’s 116. Such a result will also see Sri Lanka swap places with Michael Vaughan’s side.

If Sri Lanka wins the series 2-0 and South Africa beats England 2-1, Sri Lanka (110) will leapfrog both India (108) and England (104) into third place.

Identical 3-0 wins for Sri Lanka and South Africa will leave India on 106 and England on 102 while Sri Lanka (112) will move to third behind South Africa (119).

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If Sri Lanka beats India 2-1, it will rise to 108 ratings points while India will drop to 109 points.

In the rankings for batsmen, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara is on top of the chart, just ahead of second-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies.

No Indian batsman figures in the top 10 but there are five of them inside the top 20 — Sachin Tendulkar (13th), Rahul Dravid (15th), Virender Sehwag (18th), Sourav Ganguly (19th) and VVS Laxman (20th).

Sri Lanka’s iconic spinner Muttiah Muralitharan leads the rankings for bowlers.

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Chaminda Vaas, in seventh place, is the other Sri Lanka bowler in the top 10 while India captain Anil Kumble is just behind him, in eighth position.

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