Ashes slip up at the Oval can push Australia behind India

Dubai, Aug 17 (PTI) For the first time since 2004,
Australia runs the risk of falling behind India to fourth spot
in ICC Test rankings if they lose the final Ashes match to
England at the Oval.

Even a draw for Australia will mean that their long reign
at the top will come to an end and South Africa move to the
top, Sri Lanka to the second spot and India in the third
position.

At present, India is placed fourth behind Sri Lanka, who
both have 119 points with a few decimal points being the
difference.

India has a chance to climb up to the second place if
Australia loses to England and Sri Lanka wins 1-0 in the
two-Test series against New Zealand, starting tomorrow at
Galle in Colombo.

If the Lankan team wins the series against the Kiwis 2-0,
it will have a chance to climb up to the second place but then
the Aussies should also lose the final Ashes Test at the Oval.

However, if Australia goes on to win the Oval Test, it
will continue its perch on the top.

In another scenario, Sri Lanka could slide to the fourth
slot if it only manages to win the series 1-0 over New Zealand
and Australia goes on to beat England.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, Gautam
Gambhir continues to be third placed while Lankan captain
Kumar Sangakkara looks to maintain his lead ahead of Australia
vice-captain Michael Clarke with a strong series against New
Zealand.

Sachin Tendulkar (14th), VVS Laxman (17th) and Virender
Sehwag (18th) are the only other Indians featuring in the
top-20 list.

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, off spinner
Harbhajan Singh (5th) is India's top ranked bowler followed by
pacer Zaheer Khan (9th) and Ishant Sharma (20).

Current number two Muttiah Muralitharan will be hoping to
take wickets and thus put pressure on the top-ranked Test
bowler, South Africa's Dale Steyn.

Among the all-rounders, New Zealand's Daniel Vettori
currently sits third in the rankings and will need a strong
performance with both bat and ball to take on Australia's
Mitchell Johnson in second and South Africa's Jacques Kallis
in first place. PTI SKI
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