India needs to win at Kanpur to retain 2nd spot in Test rankings

Dubai, Apr 7 (UNI) After the debacle in Ahmedabad, Team India will now have to win the third Test against South Africa starting April 11 not only to save the series but also to retain their second spot in the ICC Test rankings.

A draw or a defeat will see them drop two places to fourth.

Sri Lanka, who failed to register a series win after being held 1-1 by the West Indies, have dropped from third to fifth, one below England.

In the bowling rankings, South Arican pacer Dale Steyn, after the match-winning performance in the second Test against India in Ahmedabad, has taken joint No 1 spot with the Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.

Steyn's 5 for 23 demolished India for a paltry 76 in the first innings in Ahmedabad and he finished with match figures of 8 for 114. Steyn needed just 22 matches to reach the top, making him among the quickest to reach the summit. Former South African fast bowlers Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald took 33 and 41 matches respectively before they were No 1.

Both Steyn and Muralitharan are tied on 897 points, with Muraliatharan slipping below 900 points for the first time since June 2006.

In the batting rankings, Australian Michael Hussey tookeover the Sri Lanka Kumar Sangakara's top spot with more than 900 points.

Sangakkara after the disappointing two-Test series in the West Indies, during which he scored 95 runs, saw him slip to third.

The South African batsman Jacques Kallis, who scored his 30th Test century in Ahmedabad, has moved up two places and shares second spot with Oz skipper Ricky Ponting.

West Indies Shivnarine Chanderpaul's match-winning 86 in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain has seen him move into joint seventh position with Mahela Jayawardene.

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