Australia Test series MELBOURNE – Australia will need to beat Pakistan comprehensively in the three-Test series starting here Saturday to retain its third position on the ICC Test Championship table. Australia starts the series with a difference of 33 rating points against sixth-placed Pakistan and the gap means it is expected to win the series comprehensively, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC) statistics. While Australia's 2-0 win will keep it on 116 points and a clean sweep will earn it just two additional points, a 1-0 or 2-1 series win will drop it to 115 points and behind Sri Lanka when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point. On the other hand, Pakistan's series win will dent Australia's hopes of narrowing the gap with the front-runners. A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for Pakistan will drop Australia to 110 rating points, and if the home team suffers three consecutive defeats, it will slip to 107 points, just two ahead of fifth-placed England which is also involved in a four-Test series against South Africa. It is also hard to say how the two teams will play since Australia has played the most number of Tests in the last two years, while Pakistan has played the fewest. Australia is coming off a 2-0 series against West Indies and Pakistan has just drawn 1-1 in New Zealand. In ICC Player Rankings for Test batsman, Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf is the highest-ranked batsman from either side. He is fifth in standings, just 11 points behind Indian opener Virender Sehwag and as many points ahead of Australia's vice captain Michael Clarke. Australian captain Ricky Ponting is 14th, his lowest ranking since October 2002. In ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, second-ranked Mitchell Johnson will spearhead bowling responsibilities as he is the only home team bowler involved in the series inside the top 20. Pakistan has Mohammad Asif (fifth) and Danish Kaneria (13th) inside the top 20 while Umar Gul is 24th. Dale Steyn leads the bowlers chart with Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka third.
