India at 2nd spot on ICC Test Championship table

Dubai, May 13 (UNI) India continued to occupy the second position on the ICC Test Championship table with captain Anil Kumble the highest ranked Indian bowler at the seventh spot.

India, who were at 111 rating points, trailed leaders Australia (141 pts) by 30 points.

India were closely followed by South Africa (109 pts), England (108 pts) and Sri Lanka (106 pts) with arch-rivals Pakistan (94 pts) languishing at the sixth place.

With just five ratings points separating India in second position and Sri Lanka in fifth, the table is very congested but with England being the only team of that foursome in action before July, the opportunity is there for it to make its mark.

England can move up to second place if they beat New Zealand 3-0 in the upcoming series that gets underway at Lord's on May 15.

England, who fell from second place following their 1-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka late last year, now has the opportunity to make amends.

With seven Test matches scheduled for England during this summer, they could, in theory, move to within 15 ratings points of Australia from the current gap of 33 points if results go their way.

On the bowling front, Kumble at the seventh spot is the only Indian in the top 10.

Fast bowler Zaheer Khan (14th) and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (19th) are the other Indians in the top 20.

Sri Lankan legend Muttiah Muralitharan heads the list. The off-spinner is followed by South African pacer Dale Steyn and Australian Stuart Clark at the second and third spots respectively.

Aussie pace spearhead Brett Lee and Proteas seamer Makhaya Ntini complete the top five.

Among the batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar is at the 13th position with Rahul Dravid breathing down his neck at the 14th spot.

Delhi Dasher Virender Sehwag is 15th while former skipper Sourav Ganguly is 17th.

VVS Laxman is at the 19th place.

The Aussie duo of Micheal Hussey and Ricky Ponting hold the top two slots.

Kumar Sangakkara, Mohd Yusuf and South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis are the other batsmen in the top five.

Irfan Pathan was fifth in the all-rounders' list which was headed by Kallis.

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