India, Australia need big wins to stay put in the Test rankings

Top-ranked Australia and second-ranked India will have to complete comprehensive wins in their upcoming away Test series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies respectively so as not to lose crucial points in the ICC Test Team Rankings. The West Indies will host India in a four-Test series starting in Antigua on Thursday, 21 July, while Australia will go head to head with Sri Lanka in Pallekele from 26 July in a three-Test series. India is ahead of eighth-ranked the West Indies by 44 points and Australia leads seventh-ranked Sri Lanka by 33 points, and because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, India and Australia’s failure to win their series convincingly will mean they will drop points. India will have to defeat the West Indies by a margin of 3-0 or better to stay at 112 points. Even a 3-1 or 2-0 win for India will see it slip to 110 points. On the other hand, a 3-1 or 2-0 win by the West Indies will see it rise to 79 points with India dropping below the 100-point mark to 98. Similarly, Australia will have to win 2-0 or better against seventh-ranked Sri Lanka to ensure it does not go below its current 118 points. In contrast, even Sri Lanka’s 1-0 win over Australia will earn it seven points and move to 92 while Steve Smith’s side will slip to 111 points. With England and Pakistan already involved in a four-Test series in England, major shake-up on top of the Test table is on the cards depending how the three series pan out. Meanwhile, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be gunning for the No.1 spot in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as an interesting contest promises to develop with Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who wrested the top spot following a 10-wicket haul in the Lord’s Test that ended on Sunday. Yasir is seven points ahead of Ashwin with three more matches to go against England. One will have to wait and see how long the two can continue the rare occurrence of two spinners at the top. The last time slow bowlers took the top two slots was in March 2006 when Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralidaran and Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne peaked to number-one and two positions, respectively. India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is the other India bowler inside the top 10 in sixth spot, while fast bowler Ishant Sharma is ranked in 20th place. For the West Indies and in the absence of an injured 21st-raned Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor will start the series as his side’s top-ranked bowler in 24th place. India’s Ajinkya Rahane will be the top-ranked batsman from either side in 12th spot and hoping to break back into the top 10. India captain Virat Kohli, who has been ranked No.1 in both ODIs and T20s but never higher than eighth in Tests, will also be looking to improve his current ranking of 14th. For the West Indies, stylish left-hander Darren Bravo is in 23rd spot, while Kraigg Braithwaite is 32nd and the experienced Marlon Samuels 43rd. The Sri Lanka-Australia series will see several leading batsmen in action, including skipper Steven Smith, who is the top ranked batsman in the ICC Rankings for Test Batsmen. Adam Voges (sixth) and vice-captain David Warner (eighth) have opportunities to improve their rankings, while Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews is the only batsman from his side inside the top 10 in 10th position. Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in eighth position is the highest-ranked bowler in the series, but team-mates Nathan Lyon (12th), Mitchell Starc (14th) and James Pattinson (19th) all have enough incentive to move up the ladder. The player rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of Antigua and Old Trafford Tests. Series schedule: West Indies vs India 21-25 July – 1st Test, Antigua 30 July- 3 Aug 3- 2nd Test, Kingston 9-13 Aug – 3rd Test, Gros Islet 18-22 Aug – 4th Test, Port of Spain Sri Lanka vs Australia 26-30 July – 1st Test, Pallekele 4-8 Aug – 2nd Test, Galle 13-17 Aug – 3rd Test, Colombo Rank Team Points Australia 118 India 112 Pakistan 111 England 108 New Zealand 98 South Africa 92 Sri Lanka 85 West Indies 65 Bangladesh 57 Note: Zimbabwe has 12 points but has not played the required eight Test matches over the new rating period to be included on the main table. It will reflect on the table as soon as it plays two more Tests. ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 19 July, before the start of India-West Indies and Sri Lanka-Australia series) Batsmen (top 10) Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating 1 Steve Smith Aus 925 60.18 936 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 2 K. Williamson NZ 868 49.23 893 v Aus at Perth 2015 3 Hashim Amla SA 860 51.45 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013 4 Joe Root Eng 820 52.20 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 5 AB de Villiers SA 818 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014 6= Younus Khan Pak 811 53.64 880 v SL at Lahore 2009 Adam Voges Aus 811*! 95.50 811 v NZ at Christchurch 2016 8 David Warner Aus 800 50.06 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 9 Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 786 49.07 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014 10 Angelo Mathews SL 765 48.70 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014 Other selected rankings Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating 12 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 753! 44.97 753 v SA at Delhi 2015 14 Virat Kohli Ind 725 44.02 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014 18 Murali Vijay Ind 697 41.09 747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015 19 C. Pujara Ind 696 47.45 851 v SA at Durban 2013 20 D. Chandimal SL 664 44.60 690 v NZ at Dunedin 2015 23 Darren Bravo WI 639 41.50 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012 27 Usman Khawaja Aus 608* 49.54 613 v NZ at Wellington 2016 31 Joe Burns Aus 575*! 49.29 575 v NZ at Christchurch 2016 32 K. Brathwaite WI 574 34.40 591 v Eng at Grenada 2015 34 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 572* 40.87 593 v SL at Galle 2015 36 Kaushal Silva SL 540 31.94 638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015 41 Shaun Marsh Aus 516* 37.72 537 v WI at Hobart 2015 43 Marlon Samuels WI 510 33.53 672 v Zim at Barbados 2013 46 J. Blackwood WI 479* 33.33 575 v Eng at Barbados 2015 49= R. Ashwin Ind 466 31.68 527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014 Kusal Mendis SL 466*! 30.81 466 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 Bowlers (top 10) Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating 1 Yasir Shah Pak 878*! 23.00 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 2 R. Ashwin Ind 871! 25.39 871 v SA at Delhi 2015 3 James Anderson Eng 868 28.33 884 v SL at Durham 2016 4 Stuart Broad Eng 859 28.34 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 5 Dale Steyn SA 841 22.53 909 v WI at Centurion 2014 6 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 789*! 23.76 789 v SA at Delhi 2015 7 Trent Boult NZ 757 29.14 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 8 Josh Hazlewood Aus 741* 25.77 792 v WI at Hobart 2015 9 Morne Morkel SA 724 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011 10 Vernon Philander SA 717 22.08 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013 Other selected rankings Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating 12 Nathan Lyon Aus 690 32.87 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016 13 Rangana Herath SL 671 30.18 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014 14 Mitchell Starc Aus 658* 30.58 692 v NZ at Adelaide 2015 18 D. Prasad SL 601* 35.97 632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015 20 Ishant Sharma Ind 579 36.90 671 v WI at Dominica 2011 24 Jerome Taylor WI 515* 34.46 717 v Eng at Jamaica 2009 25 Dilruwan Perera SL 495* 29.56 531 v Pak at Galle 2014 31 Amit Mishra Ind 462* 33.96 467 v SA at Nagpur 2015 33 Umesh Yadav Ind 441*! 36.05 441 v SA at Delhi 2015 34 Nuwan Pradeep SL 432*! 43.63 432 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 35 M. Shami Ind 431* 36.14 467 v Aus at Sydney 2015 39 Shaminda Eranga SL 404* 37.49 541 v Eng at Headingley 2014 43 Suranga Lakmal SL 375*! 49.38 375 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 45 Devendra Bishoo WI 372* 38.05 426 v Ind at Delhi 2011 46 D. Chameera SL 369* 27.28 377 v Eng at Headingley 2016 50 Mitchell Marsh Aus 329* 34.52 349 v WI at Melbourne 2015 All-rounders (top five) Rank Player Team Pts HS Rating 1 R. Ashwin Ind 406 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013 2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014 3 Stuart Broad Eng 277 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012 4 Vernon Philander SA 275*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014 5= Ravindra Jadeja Ind 259*/*! 259 v SA at Delhi 2015 Ben Stokes Eng 259 /* 276 v SA at Centurion 2016 *indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets. !indicates career-highest rating

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