India will climb to third in the ICC Test Championship table if it can win both matches of its forthcoming home Test series against South Africa starting in Kanpur on Saturday, November 20.

India, currently fourth in the official Test table, missed out on the chance to climb to second when it lost the recent home series against Australia 2-1. It has another chance to overtake Pakistan and pull level with England on 109 points if it can win both of its matches against South Africa.

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A 1-0 home win would be enough to put India third on 107 points. India has never been in the top three of the ICC Test Championship since it was launched in May 2001 and 107 points would be its highest rating over this period.

South Africa dropped out of the top two in the official Test table for the first time in August 2004 and currently occupies sixth position. It goes into the series with a rating of 102 and needs a draw to improve this by a point.

If South Africa wins this series 1-0 it will overtake India while a 2-0 victory will lift it back up to third with a rating of 107 points.

Australia v New Zealand:

Australia's home series against New Zealand begins on Thursday, November 18, in Brisbane with the home side looking to extend its lead at the top of the table.

A 2-0 series win for Australia will see it build on its advantage at the top of the official Test standings by two points.

This would boost Australia's rating to 130 points for the first time since the completion of the drawn home series against India at the start of 2004.

New Zealand will be looking for a repeat of their last tour of Australia when they held the hosts to a 0-0 series draw. A similar outcome would boost New Zealand's Test rating from 95 to 98 points.

If New Zealand can win the series 1-0 it will improve it's rating to 101 points.

The ICC Test Championship table on November 16:

Position	Team	Rating
1	Australia	128
2	England	109
3	Pakistan	105
4	India	105
5	Sri Lanka	103
6	South Africa	102
7	New Zealand	95
8	West Indies	73
9	Zimbabwe	51
10	Bangladesh	0

India v South Africa, 2 Tests, Nov-Dec 2004:

Result	India	South Africa
Current rating:	105	102
Possible series outcomes:
India wins 2-0	109	98
India wins 1-0	107	100
Drawn 0-0,1-1	104	103
South Africa wins 0-1	102	105
South Africa wins 0-2	100	107

Australia v New Zealand, 2 Tests, Nov 2004:

Result	Australia	New Zealand
Current rating:	128	95
Possible series outcomes:
Australia wins 2-0	130	93
Australia wins 1-0	128	95
Drawn 0-0, 1-1	126	98
New Zealand wins 0-1	123	101
New Zealand wins 0-2	122	103