Calcutta: As South Africa and Australia battle for the No. 1 spot in the Test series that starts on Thursday, the players will also engage in a tussle to improve their individual rankings.

There are eight players from South Africa and Australia in the top-20 batsmen — four from each side. Australia boast of three in the top-10 — Michael Clarke (third), Ponting (sixth) and Michael Hussey (10th) — compared to just one from South Africa (Graeme Smith in eighth place).

The advantage in the bowling is with South Africa even though there are three players from each side currently enjoying a place in the top-20. Unfortunately, third-placed Stuart Clark and 10th-placed Brett Lee are currently not available due to injury.

RANKINGS

Batsmen: 1. S. Chanderpaul; 2. K. Sangakkara; 3. M. Clarke; 4. M. Jayawardene; 5. K. Pietersen; 6. R. Ponting; 7. Y. Khan; 8. G. Smith; 9. G. Gambhir; 10. M. Hussey.

Bowlers: 1. M. Muralidharan; 2. D. Steyn; 3. S. Clark; 4. M. Johnson; 5. M. Ntini; 6. J. Taylor; 7. R. Sidebottom; 8. C. Vaas; 9. H. Singh; 10. B. Lee.

All-rounders: 1. J. Kallis; 2. D. Vettori; 3. A. Flintoff; 4. C. Vaas; 5. C. Gayle.