By IANS,
New Delhi : India and South Africa will battle it out for the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Test Championship mace when they clash in the two-match series starting Saturday.
India are currently at the top in the Test rankings, leading South Africa by four ratings points.
The team that finishes at the top on April 1 cut-off date will win the annual prize money of $175,000. The second best side will pocket $75,000.
India just need to draw the series to retain the number one position and the mace which it had snatched from South Africa on Dec 6 after defeating Sri Lanka by 2-0. But India will drop to second if the Proteas win the series by 1-0 or better.
Although Bangladesh will host England and Australia will travel to New Zealand for two Tests series before the cut-off date, the result of those two series will have no impact on the number one position.
If India win the series by 1-0 or better, they will not only finish on top of the table but will also bring Australia in contention for a second-place finish.
In the rankings for Test batsman, India opener Gautam Gambhir, who won the Test player of the year last year, is leading the table with Graeme Smith at second position and 39 points behind.
Sachin Tendulkar is the other batsman who will be keeping an eye on a place in the top five. Tendulkar currently occupies ninth position but there are just 33 points separating him from fifth-placed Michael Clarke of Australia.
In the bowling charts, Dale Steyn leads the pack at the top followed by Australian Mitchell Johnson and Pakistan’s Mohammad Asif.