India are poised to surpass England as the No. 2 team, while match-winning performers Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble moved up the batting charts in the ICC Test rankings after the nine-wicket victory over England at Mohali on Monday.
Dravid's double of 95 and 42 not out, which played a key role in his side's success in the second cricket Test, lifted him three spots and put him behind Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis in the latest rankings for Test batsmen, announced on Tuesday.
Sachin Tendulkar slipped three places, to 15th, after his solitary innings of four at Mohali, while Virender Sehwag, whose unbeaten 76 secured his side's victory on Monday, remained in 10th place.
Kumble is now the leading Indian bowler after his 9-146, including the record 500th wicket, eased him up one place to 12th and saw him overtake Irfan Pathan.
The left-arm fast bowler has slipped two positions to 13th but he has strengthened his hold on fourth spot in the all-rounder's list and is now within striking distance of South Africa's Shaun Pollock.
For England, the Mohali defeat means they have to win the final Test to retain their position as the second-placed side in the ICC Test Championship table and anything less than victory will see India overtake them.
Their players are also under pressure in the player rankings.
A twin failure for Andrew Strauss in Mohali has seen him slip four places to 21st in the batting list and that means England's only representative in the top 20 is the unavailable Marcus Trescothick, in ninth position.
Kevin Pietersen, who scored a first-innings half-century in the Test loss, holds firm in 24th spot, while acting captain Andrew Flintoff is up six places to 26th after a double of 70 and 51 in a losing cause.
Ian Bell is up seven spots to 44th, his highest career ranking to date.
Flintoff is also on his way up in the bowling list, rising one place to seventh position in the LG ICC Player Rankings for bowlers after taking four wickets in Mohali, and although he remains in second spot in the all-rounder's table, he has also picked up rating points in his quest to overhaul Jacques Kallis.
Latest ICC Test Championship rankings:
1 Australia, 2 England, 3 India, 4 Pakistan, 5 New Zealand, 6 South Africa, 7 Sri Lanka, 8 West Indies, 9 Zimbabwe, 10 Bangladesh.
LG ICC Test Rankings
Ahead of the first Test of the South Africa Australia series
Batsmen
Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 Ricky Ponting Aus 922 57.71 922 v SA at Sydney 2006
2 Jacques Kallis SA 888 57.24 896 v Eng at Cape Town 2005
3 Rahul Dravid Ind 860 58.16 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
4 Matthew Hayden Aus 858 54.17 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
5 Inzamam-ul-Haq Pak 857 51.72 870 v Eng at Lahore 2005
6 Brian Lara WI 834 53.37 911 v SA at Cape Town 2004
7 Younis Khan Pak 808 48.43 823 v Ind at Faisalabad 2006
8 Moh'd Yousuf Pak 794 50.75 798 v Ind at Faisalabad 2006
9 M.E.Trescothick Eng 753 45.47 818 v Pak at Multan 2005
10 Virender Sehwag Ind 742 53.66 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
11 M.Jayawardene SL 699 47.88 836 v Eng at Birmingham 2002
12 H.H.Gibbs SA 692 46.82 825 v WI at Centurion 2004
13 Adam Gilchrist Aus 687 50.18 874 v SA at Cape Town 2002
14 Justin Langer Aus 686 45.72 780 v SA at Sydney 2002
15 S.R.Tendulkar Ind 685 55.79 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
16 S.Chanderpaul WI 684 45.47 811 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2005
17 Damien Martyn Aus 676 47.96 848 v NZ at Wellington 2005
18 Graeme Smith SA 674 51.54 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
19 K.C.Sangakkara SL 656 46.31 813 v Pak at Lahore 2002
20 Mike Hussey Aus 652* 80.00 652 v SA at Sydney 2006
Bowlers
Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Ranking
1 M.Muralidaran SL 854 22.35 915 v Pak at Lahore 2002
2 Glenn McGrath Aus 853 21.55 914 v Eng at The Oval 2001
3 Shane Warne Aus 842 25.15 905 v Eng at Melbourne 1994
4 Matt'w Hoggard Eng 779 29.37 779 v Ind at Mohali 2006
5= Makhaya Ntini SA 778 29.22 807 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2005
Shane Bond NZ 778* 20.49 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
7 Andrew Flintoff Eng 768 31.71 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
8 Shoaib Akhtar Pak 766 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
9 Andre Nel SA 763* 26.22 763 v Aus at Sydney 2006
10 Chaminda Vaas SL 760 28.81 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
11 Shaun Pollock SA 742 22.76 909 v Eng at Johannesburg 1999
12 Anil Kumble Ind 731 28.79 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
13 Irfan Pathan Ind 708* 29.78 761 v SL at Delhi 2005
14 Steve Harmison Eng 667 29.03 875 v WI at The Oval 2004
15 Danish Kaneria Pak 662 31.61 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
16 Shabbir Ahmed Pak 615* 23.03 647 v Eng at Multan 2005
17 Daniel Vettori NZ 606 34.50 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
18 Jason Gillespie Aus 604 26.61 812 v NZ at Adelaide 2004
19 Brett Lee Aus 599 31.85 658 v WI at Perth 2000
20= Simon Jones Eng 594* 28.22 631 v Aus at Nottingham 2005
Corey Collymore WI 594* 31.36 600 v Aus at Adelaide 2005
Stuart MacGill Aus 594 27.95 728 v WI at Kingston 1999
LG ICC Test all-rounder rankings
Rank Player Country Points
1 Jacques Kallis SA 496
2 Andrew Flintoff Eng 469
3 Shaun Pollock SA 340
4 Irfan Pathan Ind 317 */*
5 Daniel Vettori NZ 279
* denotes provisional ranking.
