India, Australia look to narrow gap with England

Calcutta (The Telegraph): Australia and India will aim to a narrow the gap with No.1-ranked England in the Reliance ICC Test Championship table when they lock horns in a four-Test series, which starts in Melbourne, on Monday.

If India make a sweep of the four-Test series, they will move to 122 ratings points.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side currently sit in the second place on 118 ratings points. That is seven ratings points behind Andrew Strauss' side.

Michael Clarke's men are in the fourth position on 103 ratings points. Third-ranked South Africa, who are currently playing a three-Test series against Sri Lanka, are on 116 points. The Proteas lead the sixth-ranked Sri Lankans 1-0 in the series.

In such a scenario, shuffling of the pack in the middle of the Championship table could be on the cards, depending on how the series Down Under (which finishes on January 28) and the one in South Africa (which finishes on January 7) pan out, according to an ICC media release, on Saturday.

If Australia win all the four Tests, they will jump to 111 ratings points and India will drop to 111 ratings. But India would still be ranked above Australia by a fraction of a point.

In case of a 3-1 win for Australia, the home side will rise to 108 ratings points and India will drop to 113 ratings points.

If the series turns out to be a 2-2 draw, it will mean Australia will gain two ratings points and India will drop two.

However, in a sharp contrast, if India make a sweep of the four-Test series, they will move to 122 ratings points and will narrow the gap with England to just three points. A 3-1 victory for India will put them on 120 ratings points, dropping Australia to 101 ratings points.

In case of a 2-1 series win, Dhoni?s side will earn one ratings points.

In the player rankings for Test batsmen, India's Sachin Tendulkar, who is one century short of becoming the first batsman to score 100 international centuries, is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in sixth position. The Master trails Pakistan's Younis Khan by four ratings points.

India also boast Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag inside the top 20, while Michael Hussey and Clarke are the only two Australia batsmen inside the top 20, in 17th and 18th positions, respectively.

Zaheer Khan of India in sixth position and Australia's Peter Siddle in 12th position will be spearheading their respective bowling attacks.

Ishant Sharma, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ravichandran Ashwin, James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon are the other bowlers inside the top 50 and they will certainly hope to improve their rankings.

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Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5662148518&f=378

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