Sri Lanka eyes series win to overtake India in Test rankings

Fifth-ranked India knows that a 3-0 victory can propel it up the rankings table, and depending on the final outcome in the ongoing Ashes series, it could even climb to as high as third place, provided Australia defeats England at The Oval.

A 2-1 victory would see India gain three points. If seventh-placed Sri Lanka whitewashes India 3-0 then it will gain eight rankings points and could theoretically climb to fifth and India would drop to 89 points, irrespective of the outcome in the final Ashes Test. A 2-1 win for the hosts, meanwhile, would see it gain four rankings points and, thus, overtake Virat Kohli’s side.

The last time India toured Sri Lanka in 2010, the series ended in a 1-1 draw, and in that scenario Sri Lanka would gain a point, while India would remain on 97 points.

The following are the permutations for the forthcoming series:

Sri Lanka (92 pts) v India (97 pts)

·       If SL wins 3-0, then SL 100 pts, Ind 89 pts

·       If SL wins 2-1, then SL 96 pts, Ind 93 pts

·       If Ind wins 3-0, then Ind 104 pts, SL 86 pts

·       If Ind wins 2-1, then Ind 100 pts, SL 89 pts

·       If the series is drawn 1-1, then SL 93 pts, Ind 97 pts

The ICC Test Team Rankings predictor function is available here. The Test rankings table, unlike the ODI & T20I tables, is updated after the series.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, fifth-placed Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakarra goes into his final Test series as the highest ranked batsman on either side on 874 points, seven adrift of South Africa’s Hashim Amla. His skipper Angelo Mathews, who will make his 50th appearance next time out, lies a single place and 14 rankings points further behind, with his opposite number Kohli in 10th position, eight points behind Australia’s Chris Rogers. Kohli is now 180 runs short of the 5,000-run mark in Test cricket.

Other batsmen from either side aiming for upward movements include India trio Murali Vijay (21st), Ajinkya Rahane (22nd) and Cheteshwar Pujara (25th), as will Sri Lanka trio Kaushal Silva (30th), Dimuth Karunaratne (32nd) and Dinesh Chandimal (45th).

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath is the highest ranked bowler heading into the series in eighth place on 752 points, 13 points behind Australia’s Mitchell Johnson. Twelfth-placed Ravichandran Ashwin, with 124 wickets in 25 Tests to date, is his side’s leading bowler with Ishant Sharma (21st) looking to break back into the top 20. Other bowlers likely to feature in the series are; Dilruwan Perera (27th), D. Prasad (29th) and Harbhajan Singh (32nd). Umesh Yadav (47th) holds an 18-point advantage over his team-mate Bhuvneshwar Kumar (48th).

Ashwin is also the highest-ranked all-rounder on either side heading into the series, sitting a point behind South Africa’s Vernon Philander in third position, while Mathews is Sri Lanka’s best all-rounder in 15th spot.

Upcoming Test fixtures

Sri Lanka v India
12-16 Aug – 1st Test, Galle
20-24 Aug – 2nd Test, Colombo (PSS)
28 Aug-1 Sept – 3rd Test, Colombo (SSC)

England v Australia
20-24 Aug – 5th Test, The Oval

ICC TEST RANKINGS (as on 10 August, before the start of Sri Lanka-India series)

Rank               Team               Points

1                      South Africa    125

2                      Australia          111

3                      Pakistan           101

4                      New Zealand   99

5                      India                97

6                      England           97

7                      Sri Lanka         92

8                      West Indies      81

9                      Bangladesh      47

10                    Zimbabwe        5

(Developed by David Kendix)

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 10 August, before the start of Sri Lanka-India series)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank      Player                Team     Points    Avge      Highest Ranking

   1          Joe Root              Eng        917!      56.58    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   2          AB de Villiers     SA          890       52.09    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   3          Steven Smith       Aus        884       54.66    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   4          Hashim Amla      SA          881       52.48    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5          K. Sangakkara     SL          874       58.04    938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

   6          Angelo Mathews SL          860       51.67    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

   7          Younus Khan      Pak         829       54.07    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   8          K. Williamson     NZ          813       45.70    860 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   9          Chris Rogers       Aus        763       42.86    793 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  10         Virat Kohli          Ind         755       45.73    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

Selected rankings

Rank      Player                Team     Points    Avge      Highest Ranking

  21         Murali Vijay       Ind         689!      41.75    689 v Ban at Fatullah 2015

  22         Ajinkya Rahane  Ind         666*!    47.00    666 v Ban at Fatullah 2015

  25         C. Pujara              Ind         641       47.11    851 v SA at Durban 2013

  30         Kaushal Silva      SL          603*     36.22    638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  32         D. Karunaratne   SL          596*!    36.48    596 v Pak at Pallekele 2015

  45         D. Chandimal      SL          521*     41.67    571 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

  47         Shikhar Dhawan Ind         519*!    41.50    519 v Ban at Fatullah 2015

  48         Upul Tharanga    SL          516*!    31.80    516 v Pak at Pallekele 2015

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank      Player                Team     Points    Avge      Highest Ranking

   1          Dale Steyn           SA          905       22.48    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   2          Stuart Broad        Eng        852!      28.97    852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3          James Anderson Eng         815       29.38    847 v WI at Barbados 2015

   4          Trent Boult          NZ          814       27.12    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   5          Yasir Shah           Pak         810*!    24.81    810 v SL at Pallekele 2015

   6          V. Philander        SA          770       22.13    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   7          M. Johnson          Aus        765       28.03    849 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   8          Rangana Herath  SL          752       30.17    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   9          Tim Southee        NZ         713       31.63    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

  10         Morne Morkel    SA          705       29.66    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

Selected rankings

Rank      Player                Team     Points    Avge      Highest Ranking

  12         R. Ashwin           Ind         686       30.20    808 v WI at Mumbai 2013

  21         Ishant Sharma     Ind         567       37.43    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  27         Dilruwan Perera  SL          506*     30.90    531 v Pak at Galle 2014

  29         D. Prasad             SL          465*!    43.25    465 v Pak at Pallekele 2015

  32         Harbhajan Singh Ind         454       32.32    765 v NZ at Wellington 2002       

  47         Umesh Yadav     Ind         367*     38.06    412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014

  48         B. Kumar             Ind         349*     35.00    443 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

All-rounders (top five)

Rank      Player                Team     Points    Highest Ranking

   1          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   2          V. Philander        SA          337*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   3          R. Ashwin            Ind         336*/    419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   4          Stuart Broad        Eng        315       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

   5          M. Johnson          Aus        269       384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating