These four sides, as well as third-ranked England and fourth-ranked Pakistan, who are battling for supremacy in the Sharjah Test, are separated by just 26 points on the ICC Test Championship.
But all this could change, depending on how the three series pan out.
If Pakistan wins the final Test, then it will move marginally ahead of Australia into second place for the first time in nearly in a decade, while England will drop behind New Zealand to sixth position by a fraction of a point. In the case of England winning the Test, both sides will retain their pre-series rankings and points.
The ICC Test Championship table will then be updated at the end of Australia-New Zealand series, which means Australia will have to win the series by 1-0 or better to ensure it stays ahead of Pakistan (if Pakistan wins 2-0). In this series, Australia can rise to as high as 110 points, but can also drop to as low as 99 points.
In contrast, New Zealand will gain seven points if it wins 3-0 but will slip to 94 points if Australia sweeps the series.
The next update of the ICC Test Championship table will take place following the conclusion of the India-South Africa series.
In this series, India will have an opportunity to climb to second position, a fraction of a point behind South Africa. However, to make it happen, it will have to win all four Tests. On the other side of the coin, South Africa will vault to 130 points and India will plummet to 96 points if the visitors win all four Tests.
The following are the series permutations:
|
Pak v Eng scenarios |
Pakistan points |
England points |
|
Pre-series |
101 (4th) |
102 (3rd) |
|
Pak 2 Eng 0 |
106 |
99 |
|
Pak 1 Eng 1 |
101 |
102 |
|
Pak 1 Eng 0 |
105 |
100 |
|
Aus v NZ scenarios |
Australia points |
New Zealand points |
|
Pre-series |
106 (2nd) |
99 (6th) |
|
Aus 3 NZ 0 |
110 |
94 |
|
Aus 2 NZ 0 |
109 |
95 |
|
Aus 1 NZ 0 OR Aus 2 NZ 1 |
108 |
97 |
|
Aus 0 NZ 1 OR Aus 1 NZ 2 |
102 |
103 |
|
Aus 0 NZ 2 |
101 |
105 |
|
Aus 0 NZ 3 |
99 |
106 |
|
Aus 1 NZ 1 |
105 |
100 |
|
Ind v SA scenarios |
India points |
South Africa points |
|
Pre-series |
100 (5th) |
125 (1st) |
|
Ind 4 SA 0 |
112 (2nd, by fraction of a point) |
112 (1st, by fraction of a point) |
|
Ind 3 SA 0 |
110 |
114 |
|
Ind 2 SA 0 OR Ind 3 SA 1 |
109 |
116 |
|
Ind 1 SA 0 OR Ind 2 SA 1 |
107 |
118 |
|
Ind 0 SA 1 OR Ind 1 SA 2 |
101 |
124 |
|
Ind 0 SA 2 OR Ind 1 SA 3 |
100 |
126 |
|
Ind 0 SA 3 |
98 |
128 |
|
Ind 0 SA 4 |
96 |
130 |
|
Ind 2 SA 2 OR Ind 1 SA 1 |
104 |
121 |
Like the ICC Test Championship table, the ICC Test Player Rankings are also up for major reshuffle as the bulk of the star performers will be in action over the next few weeks.
Although the ICC Test Player Rankings will be updated following the conclusion of the Sharjah Test, England’s Joe Root currently occupies the coveted number-one spot with Australia captain Steven Smith in second, just three points behind.
Root and Smith have been involved in the fight for the number-one slot since the Trent Bridge Test. And because there is such a small gap between the two batsmen, neither of them has been able to retain the slot for an extended period of time. With Root left with just one innings in the ongoing series, Smith has an opportunity to not only leapfrog Root but also create some daylight as he has six innings in hand.
Breathing down the throats of Root and Smith are the South African duo of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, who are separated by just nine points, with team-mate Faf du Plessis sitting in 16th spot.
Kane Williamson (seventh) of New Zealand and Australia’s David Warner (ninth) are the other batsmen inside the top 10 with Black Caps’ Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum in 13th and 15th positions respectively.
India captain Virat Kohli is his side’s highest-ranked batsman in 13th position and is accompanied by Cheteshwar Pujara (19th) and Murali Vijay (20th) inside the top 20.
Led by number one-ranked Dale Steyn, South Africa boasts Vernon Philander (seventh) and Morne Morkel (11th) inside the top 20 with Imran Tahir in 59th spot. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin (eighth) and Ishant Sharma (19th) are inside the top 20, while the next highest-ranked bowler is Ravindra Jadeja in 30th spot, followed by Amit Mishra (38th), Umesh Yadav (42nd) and Varun Aaron (86th).
The New Zealand batsmen will face a real challenge in the three-Test series as five Australia bowlers feature inside the top 20. These include Mitchell Johnson (sixth), Peter Siddle (13th), Josh Hazlewood (16th), Nathan Lyon (17th) and Mitchell Starc (20th).
Fifth-ranked Trent Boult will spearhead New Zealand’s bowling attack, which also includes Tim Southee (10th), Mark Craig (39th) and Doug Bracewell (40th).
The top five all-rounders includes three players who will feature in Australia and India, including Ashwin (second), Philander (fourth) and Johnson (fifth).
The ICC Test Championship and ICC Test Player Rankings will be updated after the conclusion of the Sharjah Test.
Series schedule
India v South Africa
5-9 Nov – 1st Test, Mohali
14-18 Nov – 2nd Test, Bengaluru
25-29 Nov – 3rd Test, Nagpur
3-7 Dec – 4th Test, New Delhi
Australia v New Zealand
5-9 Nov – 1st Test, Brisbane
13-17 Nov – 2nd Test, Perth
27 Nov-1 Dec – 3rd Test, Adelaide (d/n)
ICC Test Championship table (as on 3 November, before the start of India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand Test series and before the end of Pakistan-England Test series)
Rank Team Points
1 South Africa 125
2 Australia 106
3 England 102
4 Pakistan 101
5 India 100
6 New Zealand 99
7 Sri Lanka 89
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 47
10 Zimbabwe 5
(Developed by David Kendix)
ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 3 November, before the start of India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand Test series and before the end of Pakistan-England Test series)
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 Joe Root Eng 913 56.79 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
2 Steven Smith Aus 910 56.27 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
3 AB de Villiers SA 890 52.09 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
4 Hashim Amla SA 881 52.48 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 Younus Khan Pak 854 54.31 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
6 Angelo Mathews SL 851 51.43 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
7 Kane Williamson NZ 813 45.70 860 v Eng at Lord's 2015
8 Alastair Cook Eng 783 47.39 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
9 David Warner Aus 775 46.78 880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014
10 Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 757 48.77 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
11 Asad Shafiq Pak 746! 43.89 746 v Eng at Dubai 2015
12 Virat Kohli Ind 730 45.06 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
13 Ross Taylor NZ 722 44.99 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
14 S Chanderpaul WI 720 51.37 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
15 B McCullum NZ 715 38.76 760 v SL at Christchurch 2014
16 Faf du Plessis SA 709* 51.55 710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014
17 Azhar Ali Pak 697 44.06 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
18 Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 689* 46.96 715 v SL at Galle 2015
19 C Pujara Ind 681 49.28 851 v SA at Durban 2013
20 Murali Vijay Ind 680 41.72 689 v Ban at Fatullah 2015
Other selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
22 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 661* 43.64 699 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2015
24 BJ Watling NZ 644! 40.71 644 v Eng at Headingley 2015
32 Shikhar Dhawan Ind 581* 44.53 593 v SL at Galle 2015
38 Tom Latham NZ 534* 39.52 569 v Pak at Dubai 2014
39 Dean Elgar SA 533*! 39.42 533 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
41 JP Duminy SA 524 35.55 586 v SL at Galle 2014
46 Rohit Sharma Ind 507* 37.82 578 v NZ at Wellington 2014
48 R Ashwin Ind 457 32.44 527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014
49 Adam Voges Aus 455*! 46.00 455 v Eng at The Oval 2
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
1 Dale Steyn SA 905 22.48 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
2 Yasir Shah Pak 827*! 24.55 827 v Eng at Dubai 2015
3 James Anderson Eng 824 29.20 847 v WI at Barbados 2015
4 Stuart Broad Eng 817 29.40 852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
5 Trent Boult NZ 814 27.12 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
6 Mitchell Johnson Aus 773 27.94 849 v Pak at Dubai 2014
7 Vernon Philander SA 770 22.13 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
8 R Ashwin Ind 760 28.44 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
9 Rangana Herath SL 751 29.49 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
10 Tim Southee NZ 713 31.63 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
11 Morne Morkel SA 705 29.66 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
12 Saeed Ajmal Pak 675 28.10 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
13 Peter Siddle Aus 646 29.87 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
14 Kemar Roach WI 642 28.21 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
15 D Prasad SL 632*! 35.97 632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015
16 Josh Hazlewood Aus 628* 21.75 634 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2015
17 Nathan Lyon Aus 616 34.09 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
18 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 614 33.29 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
19 Ishant Sharma Ind 613 36.51 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
20 Mitchell Starc Aus 596* 31.80 627 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2015
Other selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
25 Neil Wagner NZ 526* 34.48 549 v WI at Barbados 2014
30 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 466* 30.37 570 v SA at Durban 2013
32 M Shami Ind 449* 36.14 467 v Aus at Sydney 2015
39 Mark Craig NZ 404*! 40.02 404 v Eng at Headingley 2015
40 Doug Bracewell NZ 401* 35.10 538 v WI at Jamaica 2012
42 Umesh Yadav Ind 389* 38.56 412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014
52 B Kumar Ind 339* 35.00 443 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014
59 Imran Tahir SA 295* 46.39 312 v Pak at Dubai 2013
All-rounders (top five)
Rank Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 R Ashwin Ind 347 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
3 Vernon Philander SA 337*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
4 Stuart Broad Eng 301 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5 Mitchell Johnson Aus 263 384 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
