India out to cut Australia's lead in LG ICC Test Championship

India will be out to cut Australia's lead at the top of the LG ICC Test Championship table when they start their three-match series against Pakistan in Lahore on Friday.

Rahul Dravid's men are currently second in that table with 115 rating points, 14 behind Australia, but they can reduce that deficit with a series win against their arch-rivals.

A repeat of their success of 2004 in Pakistan when they won 2-1 would give India a total of 116 points, a 2-0 victory would lift them to 118 points and a clean sweep would leave India on 119, just 10 rating points behind Ricky Ponting's side.

And with Australia facing a potential tricky series in South Africa starting in March, that margin could be reduced still further over the next few months.

However, India can hardly expect to have things all their own way against Inzamam-ul-Haq's side as Pakistan have their own incentives to do well apart from the obvious reasons of national pride and local bragging rights.

The home team will be keen not only to extract revenge for that loss to India two years ago but also to build on their two Test wins over England late last year which lifted them to fourth in the LG ICC Test Championship table.

If Pakistan can win the series 3-0 they will have 111 rating points, will overtake India and relegate Dravid's side to fourth in the table, and also leave themselves just two points behind England.

Any series win for Pakistan will not only boost their rating but also drop India back below England.

That will be significant because it was only a month ago that India replaced England as the closest challengers to Australia's crown thanks to their 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka combined with that loss by England in Pakistan.

Ultimately, there is plenty of scope for sides changing places near the top of the LG ICC Test Championship table as a result of this Pakistan - India series which just goes to show how tight it is behind Australia and how important these next three matches are.

But if either side is hoping for a comfortable series of victories over the next few weeks then one look at the LG ICC Player Rankings suggests that hope is completely unrealistic.

In the batting stakes both sides have three players apiece in the top 11 places with Inzamam and Dravid, the two captains, leading from the front in fourth and sixth places respectively. Inzamam has his highest-ever tally of rating points after a superb series against England.

Below that impressive duo are the Indian pair of Virender Sehwag in seventh and Sachin Tendulkar in ninth, both heavy scorers in the series two years ago, while, for Pakistan, Mohammad Yousuf is 10th (his last Test innings was 223 against England in Lahore) and Younis Khan is one place below him.

The batting talent continues further down the list too. VVS Laxman is 23rd (he made 104 in his last Test, against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad) and former India captain Sourav Ganguly is joint 39th, alongside Salman Butt.

Outside the top 50 are, amongst others, Yuvraj Singh of India (59th) and Pakistan's wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal (60th). Both men have career-best tallies of rating points and Akmal's last Test innings was 154 against England in Lahore.

If both sides look well-matched in the batting department, the same seems true in the bowling stakes as a look at that section of the LG ICC Player Rankings appears to confirm.

India have two players in the top ten places with Anil Kumble eighth and Irfan Pathan 10th, the latter just short of his best-ever ranking points tally, but Pakistan have the highest-placed player as Shoaib Akhtar is fourth after his brilliant series against England.

A little further down the list are the spinners Danish Kaneria of Pakistan and India's Harbhajan Singh (13th & 14th respectively) with Kaneria, like Shoaib Akhtar, a player that enjoyed the recent series against England. Shabbir Ahmed, hoping his ban for possessing an illegal bowling action may be overturned at a hearing later this month, is 17th.

In Shabbir's absence Mohammad Sami (37th) and Naved-ul-Hasan (65th) are both likely to get a chance to impress and both currently have career-best hauls of rating points.

Pathan is also riding high in the LG ICC Player Rankings table for all-rounders as he is in fourth place ahead of this series. Consistent contributions with bat and ball may even see him take third spot from Shaun Pollock but the top two places, occupied by Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis, look too far away for him at this stage.

The schedule for the Pakistan - India Test series is as follows:

13 - 17 January - First Test, Lahore
21 - 25 January - Second Test, Faisalabad
29 January - 2 February, Third Test, Karachi

Full details of the current LG ICC Test Championship and how future results will impact on the table, as well as the LG ICC Player Rankings can be found here