1)Jacques Kallis (over 16000 international runs and over 400 international wickets)
2)Kapil Dev
3)Sanath Jayasuriya (over 18000 international runs and 400 international wickets)
4)Lance Klusner
5)Imran Khan
6)Ian Botham
7)Shaun Pollock (over 6000 international runs and over 750 international wickets)
8) Gary Sobers
9)Richard Hadlee
10)Andrew Flintoff (over 6000 international runs and over 300 international wickets)
1.S Tendulkar
2.D Bradman
3.B Lara
4.R Ponting
5.Adam Gilchrist
6.Gary Sobers
7.S Warne
8.Murlitharan
9.Kapil Dev
10.Dennis Lillie
11.Anil Kumble
1.S Tendulkar
2.Virendra Sehwag
3. R Ponting
4.Vivian Richards
5.Sanath Jayasuriya
6.A Gilchrist
7.S Warne
8.Murlitharan
9.G McGrath
10.Wasim Akram
11.Kapil Dev
1.Sachin Tendulkar
2.Sourav Ganguly
3.Gautam Gambhir
4.Virendra Sehwag
5.Yuvraj Singh
7.MS Dhoni
8.Kapil Dev
9.Anil Kumble
10.Javagal Srinath
11.Harbhajan singh
As Chris Martin damaged the Indian middle order with the second new ball on Saturday, New Zealand secured a 314-run first innings lead and enforced the follow-on in the second Test.
Martin dismissed Yuvraj Singh (0), Dinesh Karthik (6) and VVS Laxman for 76 as India were all out for 305 on Saturday replying to New Zealand's first innings of 619 for 9 declared.
At stumps India were 47 for one in the second innings, still 267 runs behind with Virender Sehwag out for 22. Gautam Gambhir (14) and Rahul Dravid (11) were the not out batsmen.
Jesse Ryder’s innings of 201 contributed the most to New Zealand's first-innings total, took catches from Martin and Iain O'Brien's bowling and claimed the vital wicket of Dravid for 83 in a three-over cameo to speed India towards dismissal.
O'Brien claimed the last two Indian wickets to fall — Harbhajan Singh for 18 and Zaheer Khan for 8 — with successive deliveries as the tourists lost their last six wickets for 59 runs in perfect batting conditions.
India resumed on Saturday at 79 for three and slipped toward the follow on despite the resistance from Sachin Tendulkar (49), Dravid (83) and Laxman (76).
Tendulkar was out before lunch, one run short of his 52nd half-century in Tests, when he edged a delivery from off-spinner Jeetan Patel to Ross Taylor at first slip.
Dravid reached his 55th Test half-century in 144 minutes off 111 balls and made a critical partnership with Laxman.
India added only 64 runs in 30 overs between lunch and tea but, importantly, lost the wickets of Dravid and Yuvraj Singh immediately before the interval.
Dravid was out for 83, caught by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum off Ryder's first over.
Singh fell without scoring in the last over before tea, leaving the tourists 253-6.
New Zealand quickly wrapped up the Indian innings in the final session and with precise use of the second new ball. Martin dismissed Karthik, caught by Ryder at third slip, and Laxman, who provided the second catch at second slip for Tim McIntosh.
Patel, who already had the prized wicket of Tendulkar, dismissed Sehwag for 22 before stumps in India's second innings. Sehwag played a rash shot, sweeping across the line, and was trapped lbw when India was 30.
Gambhir and Dravid were at the crease at stumps but Indian team will have to face a battle to save the match with two days remaining.
Player Dismissals Average Dismissals Runs Average Runs Innings
Mark Boucher 475 0.95 4693 29.89 178
Adam Gilchrist 416 0.86 5570 47.61 137
Alec Stewart 277 0.67 8463 39.55 235
Ian Healy 395 1.03 4356 27.4 182
Rodney Marsh 355 1.3 3633 26.52 150
Player Runs Not Out Match Date Match results
Brian Lara 400 * West Indies v England 10/04/2004 Match drawn
Matthew Hayden 380 Australia v Zimbabwe 09/10/2003 Australia win by an innings and 175 runs
Brian Lara 375 West Indies v England 16/04/1994 Match drawn
Mahela Jayawardene 374 Sri Lanka v South Africa 27/07/2006 Sri Lanka win by an innings and 153 runs
Garry Sobers 365 * West Indies v Pakistan 26/02/1958 West Indies win by an innings and 174 runs
Len Hutton 364 England v Australia 20/08/1938 England win by an innings and 579 runs
Sanath Jayasuriya 340 Sri Lanka v India 02/08/1997 Match drawn
Hanif Mohammad 337 West Indies v Pakistan 17/01/1958 Match drawn
Wally Hammond 336 * New Zealand v England 31/03/1933 Match drawn
Don Bradman 334 England v Australia 11/07/1930 Match drawn
Mark Taylor 334 * Pakistan v Australia 15/10/1998 Match drawn
Graham Gooch 333 England v India 26/07/1990 England win by 247 runs
Inzamam-ul-Haq 329 Pakistan v New Zealand 01/05/2002 Pakistan win by an innings and 324 runs
..
Player Runs Wickets Rating
Shane Warne 3154 708 11685.81
Anil Kumble 2506 619 8723.81
Jacques Kallis 10277 258 7108.81
Kapil Dev 5248 434 6655.81
Ian Botham 5200 383 5281.81
Shaun Pollock 3781 421 4850.81
Richard Hadlee 3124 431 4453.81
Garry Sobers 8032 235 4265.81
Wasim Akram 2898 414 3785.81
Imran Khan 3807 362 3342.81
Player Centuries Innings Double Centuries Triple Centuries Innings per Centuries
Sachin Tendulkar 42 395 4 0 10.63
Ricky Ponting 37 262 4 0 14.12
Brian Lara 34 243 7 2 13.99
Sunil Gavaskar 34 248 4 0 13.71
Steve Waugh 32 447 1 0 7.16
Jacques Kallis 31 447 0 0 6.94
Matthew Hayden 30 187 1 1 16.04
Don Bradman 29 95 10 2 30.53
Allan Border 27 386 2 0 6.99
Rahul Dravid 26 241 5 0 10.79
Garry Sobers 26 328 1 1 7.93
India's hopes of grabbing 100th Test victory in Napier appears to be gloomy now as New Zealand ensured firm grip on the second Test. It seems as if India has only two choices in Napier, either bow to Kiwis or to fight for a draw.
Jesse Ryder reached 201 before New Zealand's declaration at 619 for nine wickets on Friday on the second day of the second Test against India.
India were in trouble at stumps in reply, with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori claiming two wickets to reduce India to 79-3 after 23 overs,trailing New Zealand by 540 runs on day two. Vettori declared New Zealand's first innings with 90 minutes remaining in the second day's play at McLean Park.
Vettori joined the New Zealand attack after only nine overs and removed Virender Sehwag for 34 and night-watchman Ishant Sharma for 0, then took a catch from off-spinner Jeetan Patel to dismiss Gautam Gambhir for 16.
Indians still need 341 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Brendon McCullum scored 115, Vettori 55 and James Franklin 52, following Ross Taylor's 151 on the first day, compiled their third-highest test total.
Ryder was the star of the day, resuming his innings at 137 not out and batting for just over eight hours to raise the third double century and third-highest score by a New Zealander against India.
Ryder hit 24 fours and a six in his disciplined innings.
The left-hander was then out to the next ball, bowled off an inside edge by Zaheer Khan. It was the 15th Test double century by a New Zealand player.
Ryder began his marathon inning when New Zealand was 23-3 in the 11th over Thursday, after winning the toss and batting.
He shared partnerships of 271 for the fourth wicket with Taylor, 121 for the fifth wicket with Franklin and finally 62 for the sixth wicket with McCullum.
McCullum reached his third century in Tests three balls before tea and went on to make 115 in a 128-run partnership with Vettori for the seventh wicket. His century came from 131 balls in 141 minutes and contained 11 fours.
Vettori reached a half-century with five fours , after McCullum's dismissal while Franklin had earlier completed his half century with seven fours.
.
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Sourav Ganguly will no longer be the "fixed" skipper of the Kolkata Knight Riders as the team has decided to rotate captaincy in the second season of the Indian Premier League starting April 18 in South Africa.
KKR coach John Buchanan said the decision to have multiple captains has nothing to do with Ganguly's performance or fitness and denied any rift in the team.
Ganguly, on his part, said his focus was to perform on the field.
Bangalore Royal Challengers:
K.Pietersen named as new captain of Bangalore Royal Challengers. He will lead the team in the second season of IPL, Jaques Kallis the South African all-rounder will lead the team in the absence of K.Pietersen.
Rahul Dravid who led the team during first season is expecting the birth of his second child and is likely to miss the tournament. Under his captaincy last year team only able to win only four out of the 14 matches they played in the tournament.
Riding on two brilliant centuries by Ryder (137) and Taylor (151), New Zealand managed to score 351 at the loss of four wickets on Day 1 of the 2nd Test against India.
Ross Taylor scored his third Test century and Jesse Ryder his second in a record 271-run fourth-wicket partnership which lifted New Zealand out of trouble.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out of the match on Thursday with a back injury, handing the captaincy to Virender Sehwag who led India for only the second time in a Test.
Earlier, New Zealand's top order collapsed as Tim McIntosh was out, unluckily, for 12, Jamie How for 1 and Martin Guptill for 8.
Taylor and Ryder were thrown together in only the 11th over on Thursday, with New Zealand's innings in collapse at 23 for three. They pursued their partnership for the next 58.2 overs to lift the home side to 294-4 before Taylor was out for 151.
The partnership was the highest by a New Zealand pair for all wickets against India, beating 231, and the highest for New Zealand's fourth wicket against all nations, beating the previous mark of 241.
Taylor's century was his first in five Tests, since his 115 against Australia at Brisbane in November.
Taylor's innings of 262 minutes and 204 balls was still the foundation of New Zealand's strong position at stumps on day one. He had come to the crease when New Zealand were struggling due to early collapse and was the first batsman to offer resistance to India's attack.
Taylor struggled to curb his aggressive nature and offered chances throughout his innings, before he got out finally trying to loft an attempted sweep to Yuvraj Singh on the square leg boundary off Harbhajan Singh in the final session.
Ryder, in contrast, played a composed and technically expert innings, limiting his scoring shots to precise and predetermined areas and offering few opportunities to the fielding side.
Ryder was unbeaten on 137 at stumps, having batted more than seven hours for his second century in consecutive Tests after his 102 at Hamilton, where India won by 10 wickets.
Leading the three match series by 1-0, M.S.Dhoni is keen to wrap up the series in Napier and already asked his player to put 100% in this match to achieve the success which many previous Indian touring teams failed to achieve on New Zealand soil.
With winning success rate of 83.33% as a Captain for M.S.Dhoni, it seems that nothing could stop M.S.Dhoni whether it is grassy pitch or bouncy wicket or a batting paradise at McClean Park.
M.S.Dhoni will be also eyeing second spot ICC test ranking for is team. Interestingly if India (118 points) win the test match at Napier they could possibly replace South Africa (119 points) at second spot. Australia (128 points) is sitting pretty well at top spot after winning the test series against South Africa with 128 points in their bag.
If India will able to do that then M.S.Dhoni will be awarded $75,000 on behalf of team India for grabbing the second spot in ICC test ranking for calendar year 2008-09. While Australia will win $125,000 for top spot in Test matches.
Everything seems to be going right for the Indians, with S.Tendulkar looks like playing with full confidence and ease in both forms of the game. He has already scored two big hundreds on this tour so far (163 not out at Christchurch during third OID and 160 during first test match at Hamilton).
Apart from Tendulkar each batsman looks in good knick during first test match Sehwag, Dravid, Gambhir, Laxman as well as Yuvraj and Dhoni which is big worrying factor for New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.
Indian team not only poses strong batting lineup but also have one of the best bowling attack. The third seamer puzzle also seems to be solved for Dhoni as Munaf bowled superbly at Hamilton.
If New Zealand team wants to bounce back in the series then they have to produce something extraordinary to outplay the Indians. Daniel Vettory men’s needs to learn quickly from the likes of Tendulkar inning at Hamilton. His team has to learn how to bat out for more than 100 overs in a test innings. His bowlers need to learn how to tackle the top-order Indian batting lineup. His fielders also need to be on top at Napier otherwise they will not only loose the series but also give India their first series win at New Zealand soil in 43 years.
Pitch and conditions
On a Pitch which was prepared for the 2nd test match got Fungus growth on it so the surface had been moved two to three feet so that it now included half the original pitch and half of the adjacent one which was used for the one-day game between the India and New Zealand. Pitch is expected to assist the pace bowler in the first inning and then it will be flatten out. Team winning the toss would like to have a bowl first.
The weather looks fine and it’s expected that we will get full five-day game here in Napier.
Stats & Trivia
New Zealand have played 7 test matches at this venue without winning a single test. Five matches had ended in a draw while in two they had to face defeat by the hands of Sri Lanka and England.
India have only played one test match and that too had ended in a draw.
Team News
India is likely to go into the match with same playing XI. After superb performance by all the players during first test match at Hamilton, Indian think management is unlike to make any changes to the squad. With Munaf Patel came well during first test match, Balaji have to wait for him turn for some time.
New Zealand have few worries whether to go with same XI or replace K.Mills with J.Patel. However New Zealand captain D.Vettori hinted that K.Mills is their prime bowler and he hope that Mills will come out top in this match. They have some injury worry also that is why Jamie How got last minute call from selector so if D.Flynn struggles to overcome a hand injury then Jamie How may get game in Napier.
Likely Playing XI for both teams (Match is schedule to begin at 03:30 AM India Time and will be Played from 26th – 30th March)
India Squad: G.Gambhir, V.Sehwag, R.Dravid, S.Tendulkar, V.V.S Laxman, Y.Singh, M.S.Dhoni (Captain & WK), H.Singh, Z.Khan, I.Sharma, M.Patel.
New Zealand Squad: Tim McIntosh, Daniel Flynn/Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill, James Franklin, Brendon McCullum (WK), Daniel Vettori (Captain), Kyle Mills, Chris Martin, Iain O'Brien.
1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI and Test matches.
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI and Test matches. He has made 43 hundreds in ODI and 42 hundreds in test mtches
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series (14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 90
15. Appeared in Most Number of ODIs over 420
16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17. He is the only batsman to surpass 12,000 runs in Test cricket
18. He is the only batsmen to surpass 16,000 runs in ODI
19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India 's highest sporting honor
20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as No. 1 and Richards as No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
22. He was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli
23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times
27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman
28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match.. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year
34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:85 centuries
37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated over 29,000 runs overall.
38. He has scored the most number of runs in both ODI and Tests.In ODI, he has scored 16543 runs and in Tests, he has scored 12589 runs
39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
45. The only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).
47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations. He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63. Tendulkar is third on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(156) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
65. First to score 29,000 international runs
66. Tendulkar is the only player who has 154 wkts and more than 16000 runs in ODI
67. Tendulkar is the only player who has 42 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
68. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket
"I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the
wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I
don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin
Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player" -Shane Warne.
"I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I
asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel
that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she
looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between
the two... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed
to gel" -Sir Donald Bradman.
"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl
me another one?'" - Adam Hollioke
"Destined to be a great" -Barry Richards.
"He is 99.5 percent perfect. I'd pay to see him" - Viv Richards.
"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours" - Michael Kasprowicz.
"It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him" -Allan Border.
"There is no shame being beaten by such a great player. We didn't lose to Team India. We Lost to Sachin Tendulkar" -Steve Waugh.
"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard" - Dennis Lillee.
"I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay" -Greg Chappell.
"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime and I am privileged he played in my time" - Wasim Akram.
"The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him to succeed and it
is too much pressure on him" -Mark Waugh.
"Everybody gets 15 minutes of fame. But if there's one person I've admired
over a 15-year of period, it's definitely Sachin." - Brain Lara
Sachin is cricket's God? Barry Richards.
You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good
ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat
looks so heavy but he just waves it arounad like it's a toothpick? -Brett Lee
You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's
going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway? -Micheal Kasprowicz
Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow ? nothing
is a problem? -Geoffrey Boycott.
His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out
to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one
man. The people see him as a God... ? Mathew Hayden, on Sachin Tendulkar.
I (Embarrassed laugh) am a normal person who plays cricket. I am nothing
more than that? Sachin Tendulkar, on being told of above quote.
"The fact of the matter is that India still need Sachin in a big way. All
this talk of the youngsters taking over is very foolish. The reason why
Tendulkar is so important for the team is because of his ability to
inspire others and make them perform under pressure" - Some day on "Times of India".
Cricket is the religion and sachin is the God
Team India without Sachin is like Temple without God.
And, this is the best!!! (A True fan of Sachin carried this Banner in a match..)
"Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because
even the Lord will be gone to watch his batting!!!."
Yes, Sachin is not only the Cricket's God, the Cricketers' God...
Sachin Tendulkar is relishing the success of the Indian cricket team and admits that in his 20-years association with the game, the time has never been as exciting as it has been in the last three-four years.
The master batsman, who has 85 international hundreds - 42 in Tests and 43 in ODIs - said team's victory in New Zealand was indeed satisfying.
"It is good for Rahul (Dravid) and myself to be part of a winning team here. We've been here on earlier tours, but it wasn't so good. But it is better late than never.
"It is exciting time for Indian cricket. It has been quite satisfying. The Test victory is very special. We have been able to achieve that in the last few years wherever we have travelled. I am glad that we made it possible here as well," said Tendulkar, who had a strenuous net session at the Eden Park.
Tendulkar attributed team's heady performance to its all-round capability.
"It has been all-round performance that has seen us do consistently well. We just needed a break and that break I thought we got in Zimbabwe (2001) which came after a long time," he said.
"After that we went to the West Indies and won a Test there. We went to England and won. We went to South Africa, we won. We did that in Australia as well. So wherever we have traveled we have created an impact. That is what the nation was looking for and we are glad we have done it," Tendulkar added.
Team India missed out on second rank in the annual ICC Test Championship and a prize money of USD 75,000 after they were beaten by South Africa by just a point following the South Africa's win over Australia in the third Test in Cape Town.
South Africa, who would have secured top spot,if they had clinched the series against Australia.They lost the series by 1-2 against Australia and barely managed to hold on to their second spot.
India, who beat New Zealand in the first Test in Hamilton by 10 wickets, will end the year in third spot on 118 points behind South Africa (119) and Australia (128) on the April 1 cut-off date.
In the ICC ODI rankings as well Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team will end the year at third spot, a mere two points behind second-placed Australia (124). South Africa will be on top with 125 points on the same cut-off date.
Australia captain Ricky Ponting will receive the ICC Test Championship shield and USD 175,000 on behalf of Cricket Australia from ICC General Manager (Cricket) David Richardson in Johannesburg on Wednesday for ending the year on top of table.
He will also pick up a cheque for USD 75,000 for his team coming second in the ODI Championship.
South Africa captain Graeme Smith will accept the ODI Championship shield and a cheque for USD 175,000 on behalf of Cricket South Africa. He will also accept a cheque of USD 75,000 for his country ending the year second in the Test Championship.
ICC Test Championship: 1. Australia (128); 2. South Africa (119); 3. India (118); 4. Sri Lanka (108); 5. Pakistan (100); 6. England (98); 7. West Indies (89); 8. New Zealand (81); 9. Bangladesh (0).
ICC ODI Championship: 1. South Africa (125); 2. Australia (124); 3. India (122); 4. New Zealand (112); 5. Pakistan (111); 6. England (107); 7. Sri Lanka (105); 8. West Indies (92); 9. Bangladesh (46); 10. Zimbabwe (23); 11. Ireland (19).
BCCI announced that South Africa has been chosen as the official host venue for Season II of the DLF Indian Premier league. The Indian Premier league will now start on April 18th in South Africa with the final to be played on May 24th 2009. The IPL also announced that a final schedule for the 59 matches and the host venues for the eight franchises will also be announced shortly.
A lot of factors were considered by BCCI while evaluating the final choice for the host venue,most importantly the South African weather, which was the favouring factor for the Rainbow Nation. The IPL matches will be broadcast in India at 4 pm and 8 pm.
The league will showcase a grand total of 59 matches providing broadcasters and in-stadia spectators with 177 hours of live "family entertainment", which will also be viewed by a significant international audience. All matches will be at 4 pm and 8 pm IST to coincide with prime time for television audiences in India .
International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan said he is surprised at the news of the Indian Premier League being held overseas, and added it would be difficult for any nation to host the event at such short notice.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Sunday announced that the hugely popular Twenty20 tournament will be played outside India because state governments have expressed their inability to provide security to the tournament as it clashes with general elections in the country.
"That is a quite surprising news, they have had real difficulties with the elections on in India," Morgan said.
"I honestly don`t know (where it will be staged) but the rumours here in Australia were that South Africa was a likely relocation destination but there has been nothing official."
"It`s the beginning of the season in England and Wales and there is a lot of Twenty20 cricket being played, including the ICC World Twenty20."
"I do think there will be great difficulties in relocating it," he said
Sydney Barnes (1901-1914)
England
Bishan Bedi (1966-1979)
India
Alec Bedser (1946-1955)
England
Richie Benaud (1952-1964)
Australia
Allan Border (1978-1994)
Australia
Ian Botham (1976-1992)
England
Geoff Boycott (1964-1982)
England
Don Bradman (1928-1948)
Australia
Ian Chappell (1964-1980)
Australia
Greg Chappell (1970-1984)
Australia
Denis Compton (1937-1957)
England
Colin Cowdrey (1954-1975)
England
Kapil Dev (1978-1994)
India
Sunil Gavaskar (1971-1987)
India
Lance Gibbs (1958-1976)
West Indies
Graham Gooch (1975-1995)
England
David Gower (1978-1992)
England
WG Grace (1880-1899)
England
Tom Graveney (1951-1969)
England
Gordon Greenidge (1974-1991)
West Indies
Richard Hadlee (1972-1990)
New Zealand
Wally Hammond (1927-1947)
England
Neil Harvey (1948-1963)
Australia
George Headley (1930-1954)
West Indies
Jack Hobbs (1908-1930)
England
Michael Holding (1975-1987)
West Indies
Len Hutton (1937-1955)
England
Rohan Kanhai (1957-1975)
West Indies
Imran Khan (1971-1992)
Pakistan
Alan Knott (1967-1981)
England
Jim Laker (1948-1959)
England
Harold Larwood (1926-1933)
England
Dennis Lillee (1971-1984)
Australia
Ray Lindwall (1946-1960)
Australia
Clive Lloyd (1966-1985)
West Indies
Rod Marsh (1970-1984)
Australia
Malcolm Marshall (1978-1991)
West Indies
Peter May (1951-1961)
England
Javed Miandad (1975-1996)
Pakistan
Keith Miller (1946-1956)
Australia
Hanif Mohammad (1952-1969)
Pakistan
Bill O'reilly (1932-1946)
Australia
Graeme Pollock (1963-1970)
South Africa
Wilfred Rhodes (1899-1930)
England
Barry Richards (1970)
South Africa
Viv Richards (1974-1991)
West Indies
Andy Roberts (1974-1983)
West Indies
Garry Sobers (1954-1974)
West Indies
Brian Statham (1951-1965)
England
Fred Trueman (1952-1965)
England
Derek Underwood (1966-1982)
England
Clyde Walcott (1948-1960)
West Indies
Everton Weekes (1948-1958)
West Indies
Frank Woolley (1909-1934)
England
Frank Worrell (1948-1963)
West Indies
