Pakistan looks to consolidate hold on third place in LG ICC Test Championship table

Pakistan will be looking to consolidate its hold on third place in the LG ICC Test Championship table when its three-match series against the West Indies gets underway today (Saturday) in Lahore.

In order to do that Pakistan must win the series convincingly because, as it is so far ahead of its opponents - 40 points - any victories it may secure will be worth fewer rating points than successes against the leading sides in the ladder.

A 2-0 series win for Inzamam-ul-Haq's side will see it remain on 112 rating points, one point clear of fourth-placed India, while a clean sweep of the series will see Pakistan move to 113, six points behind England, which lies in second spot.

Australia currently heads the LG ICC Test Championship table, 11 points clear of its nearest rivals.

For the West Indies, this series is all about trying to gain ground on the sides above it in that table.

Brian Lara's line-up lies eighth, 20 rating points behind New Zealand, but it can cut that gap to just nine points if it can win all three Tests in Pakistan.

Even a drawn series will see the West Indies gain five rating points while victory by the odd Test - 1-0 or 2-1 - will lift its rating by eight points, to 80.

Of course, securing any sort of success, away from home too, will be easier said than done for the West Indies, as one look at the LG ICC Player Rankings shows.

Pakistan has three batsmen in the top 10 places with Mohammad Yousuf leading the way in third place, his best-ever ranking.

The elegant right-hander achieved his current lofty position thanks to an outstanding series against England, scoring 631 runs in four matches. Below him comes Younis Khan in fourth spot while Inzamam lies in seventh position.

Mohammad Yousuf now has just two players ahead of him - Australia's Ricky Ponting, who tops the list, and Rahul Dravid of India.

Pakistan will obviously be handicapped by the absence of pace bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif - they lie eighth and 27th respectively in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers - but there are others who can make up for their loss.

Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, fresh after not playing in the recent ICC Champions Trophy, is 19th in the bowling list while Umar Gul lies in a career-best 35th spot following a series of impressive displays in England.

The West Indies have only one player in the batting top 20 - Lara himself, in 13th spot - but three others have a chance of entering that select group if they have successful series.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul lies 21st, Chris Gayle, the leading run-scorer and man of the series in the ICC Champions Trophy, is 24th and Ramnaresh Sarwan is in 29th position.

From a bowling perspective, the West Indies are likely to rely on tenth-placed Corey Collymore, as well as the up-and-coming Jerome Taylor, currently 59th in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

That list is headed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralidaran, clear of Makhaya Ntini of South Africa.

The LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is topped by South Africa's Jacques Kallis ahead of Andrew Flintoff of England.

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

11 - 15 November - first Test, Lahore
19 - 23 November - second Test, Multan
27 November - 1 December - 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