The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : India must win to stay second

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Tuesday, Apr 08, 2008
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India must win to stay second

Dubai: India must win the third and final Test against South Africa to avoid losing its second position in the ICC Championship table to the visitor.

If Anil Kumble’s team draws or loses the match, which begins in Kanpur on Friday, it will drop two full places to fourth from its current position.

The Indians trail the South Africans 0-1 after the humiliating innings and 90 runs defeat in Ahmedabad.

Steyn level with Murali

In individual rankings, South Africa pacer Dale Steyn has moved to the top of the ICC Rankings for Test bowlers after his fine display against India.

Steyn now has 897 ratings points and is level with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who has been top of the bowlers list since February 2006.

With one more Test left in the current series in India, Steyn has the opportunity to go top of the table on his own and also to become just the 20th bowler in the history of Test cricket to pass the magic 900-point mark in the ratings.

It is very crowded at the top of the batting list with just 32 ratings points separating Michael Hussey at the top and Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan in fifth position.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis share the second spot, with Sri Lankan wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara fourth.

South African captain Graeme Smith is up one spot to 14th while several India batsmen, barring Sachin Tendulkar who missed the Ahmedabad Test, slide down.

Virender Sehwag lost a spot to be 13th, while Rahul Dravid also dropped a couple of rungs to be 15th. V.V.S. Laxman, who also had a forgettable match, slid down by two places to 19th.

Harbhajan moves up

The news is better for Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has moved back into the top-20 in the rankings for Test bowlers.

The tweaker took four wickets in the only South African innings of the match in Ahmedabad and moved up four places in the rankings, past Kallis, Umar Gul of Pakistan and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori.

Irfan Pathan has moved into the top five in the rankings for Test all-rounders after being one of the few players in his team who put up a resistance against the South African onslaught in Ahmedabad. — PTI

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