Draw costs India opportunity to move into 2nd spot

Dubai, June 8 (UNI) India's wait to overtake England and move into second place in the LG ICC Test Championship has been prolonged, thanks to their inability to take the last West Indies wicket in the first Test here which ended in a draw.

A clean sweep of the four-match series would have taken India to 112 rating points, the same mark as England, but Rahul Dravid's side would have moved into second spot when the ratings were re-calculated to three decimal places.

However, the inability to break up the West Indies' last wicket pairing of Fidel Edwards and Corey Collymore on Tuesday evening means that, even if India wins the remaining matches of the series to secure a 3-0 success, it cannot improve on its current rating of 111 points.

Nevertheless the was something to cheer about for India in the latest rakings as Wasim Jaffer, who made 212 in the second innings, leapfrogged 29 places to 55th in Test batsmen's list.

Elsewhere the news for India's batsmen is not quite so good.

Dravid has dropped down two places to fourth position, as has Virender Sehwag, who now finds himself 14th.

Below them are the injured Sachin Tendulkar, unchanged in 17th, and V V S Laxman, down one spot to 27th.

Anil Kumble remains India's highest-placed bowler in the listings, in eighth position, while Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh, who both missed out on places in the final eleven in the first Test, are 12th and 23rd respectively.

For the West Indies, Brian Lara's twin failures in Antigua have seen him slip three places to ninth in the batting list and he is now at his lowest ranking and rating since March 2001.

However, Corey Collymore has moved up seven places in the bowling rankings and is now 17th, his highest-ever placing, with a career-best tally of rating points.

Dwayne Bravo has moved into the top 40 batsmen for the first time, up eight places to 38th spot, and he is also 46th among the bowlers.

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