Series win will secure the coveted ICC Test Championship mace for South Africa

Whoever finishes top will win the annual US$175,000 prize while Australia could yet finish second by the annual cut-off date and pocket US$75,000

Left-handed openers Gambhir and Smith to battle out for number-one batting position

ICC Test Championship predictor function available at http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/test_predictor.php

The battle for supremacy atop the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship table will come to a head in India over the next fortnight with the home side putting its mace on the line and South Africa primed to take possession.

In addition, there is the not insignificant matter of the annual US$175,000 prize on offer to the side reaching the 1 April cut-off date in top spot. With no other team capable of achieving premier position in time, this two-match series has the added context of effectively being a world championship decider.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side enters the series in number-one position, leading Graeme Smith's side by four ratings points. But the home side will drop to second if the Proteas win the series by 1-0 or better. But India just needs to draw the series to retain the number-one position and the mace which it had snatched from South Africa on 6 December after defeating Sri Lanka by 2-0.

Although Bangladesh will host England and Australia will travel to New Zealand for two Tests series before the 1 April cut-off date, the result of those two series will have no impact on the number-one position.

If South Africa beats India by 1-0, it will go to 123 ratings points and India will drop to 122 ratings points while in case of a 2-0 win, the Proteas will rise to 125 ratings points and India will drop to 120 ratings points.

On the other side of the coin, if India wins the series by 1-0 or better, it will not only finish on top of the table but will also bring Australia in contention for a cash award of US$75,000 which will be presented to side that finishes second on the table also at the cut-off date.

While a 1-0 win will lift India to 127 ratings points and push South Africa to 118 ratings points, the Proteas will drop to 116 ratings points if they lose both Tests.

As such, South Africa's series loss by whatever margin will give Australia a sniff of the number-two position. Ricky Ponting's side currently sits on 116 ratings points and will rise to 117 ratings points if it beats the Blackcaps 1-0 but will jump to 119 ratings points if it wins both matches of that series.

Last year, the race for the Test Championship mace also went down to the wire with both Australia and South Africa entering into the final series before the cut-off date with just five ratings points separating them. On that occasion Ponting and his men prevailed, winning the series 2-1 and retaining possession of the coveted mace.

All the various permutations can be calculated by using the ICC Test Championship predictor at http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net/match_zone/test_predictor.php.

While India and South Africa will be fighting hard for top spot, there are a few very interesting individual battles on the cards as well.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsman, India opener Gautam Gambhir is in number-one position while Graeme Smith is second, 39 points behind. If Gambhir struggles for runs and Smith manages to shine with the bat, there is a strong possibility that there'll be a change at the top.

However, if Gambhir succeeds in showing glimpses of his 2009 form which won him the ICC Test Player of the Year award in Johannesburg last year, he could well become the 25th batsman overall to reach the 900-point mark which, in ranking terms, is the benchmark for top batsmen.

Sachin Tendulkar is the other batsmen who will be keeping an eye on a place in the top five. Tendulkar currently occupies ninth position but there are just 33 points separating him from fifth-placed Michael Clarke of Australia.

It has been almost five years since Test cricket's most successful batsman was inside the top five. He had climbed to fifth position after scoring 194 not out against Pakistan in the Multan Test in March 2004 before slipping down the order. He dropped as low as 24th position in October 2009 after the Chennai Test against Australia, which was his lowest ranking since January 1992.

The other batsmen eyeing upward movement are Virender Sehwag (sixth), Jacques Kallis (eighth), AB de Villiers (14th), VVS Laxman (19th), Hashim Alma (23rd), Ashwell Prince (29th) and Dhoni (30th).

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, there are six bowlers inside the top 20 from either side with fast bowler Dale Steyn leading the way by a distance. Others are Zaheer Khan (sixth), Morne Morkel (seventh), Harbhajan Singh (eighth), Paul Harris (12th) and Ishant Sharma (15th).

Kallis leads the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Sehwag being the highest-ranked Indian in 10th spot.

Series schedule: 6-10 Feb - First Test, Nagpur 14-18 Feb - Second Test, Kolkata

Reliance Mobile Test Championship (as of 4 February, before the start of India-South Africa Test series)

Rank Team Rating

1 India 124 2 South Africa 120 3 Australia 116 4 Sri Lanka 115 5 England 107 6 Pakistan 83 7 New Zealand 81 8 West Indies 77 9 Bangladesh 13

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings (as of 4 February, before the start of India-South Africa Test series)

Batsmen

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

1 Gautam Gambhir Ind 882 57.50 886 v SL at Kanpur 2009

2 Graeme Smith SA 843! 50.89 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

3 Mahela Jayawardena SL 836 53.96 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009

4 Kumar Sangakkara SL 835 55.10 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

5 Michael Clarke Aus 805 50.19 855 v Eng at Headingley 2009

6 Virender Sehwag Ind 797 52.46 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004

7 Ricky Ponting Aus 783 55.67 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

8 Jacques Kallis SA 773 54.56 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007

9 Sachin Tendulkar Ind 772 55.37 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002 10 S.Chanderpaul WI 765 48.70 901 v NZ at Napier 2008 11 Ross Taylor NZ 763 42.15 775 v Pak at Wellington 2009 12 Mohammad Yousuf Pak 761 53.07 933 v WI at Karachi 2006 13 Younus Khan Pak 754 50.09 880 v SL at Lahore 2009 14 AB de Villiers SA 733 43.56 745 v Eng at Centurion 2009 15 Rahul Dravid Ind 727 53.75 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005 16 Mike Hussey Aus 709 53.04 921 v WI at Kingston 2008 17 Thilan Samaraweera SL 707 51.14 747 v Ind at Kanpur 2009 18 Simon Katich Aus 706 44.91 720 v Eng at Cardiff 2009 19 VVS Laxman Ind 703 45.70 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004 20 Chris Gayle WI 688 40.61 704 v Eng at Antigua 2009

Bowlers

Rank Player Team Points Avge HS Rating

1 Dale Steyn SA 852 23.70 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008

2 Mitchell Johnson Aus 780 28.45 825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

3 Mohammad Asif Pak 757* 23.20 792 v Aus at Sydney 2010

4 Muttiah Muralidaran SL 752 22.71 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007

5 Graeme Swann Eng 732* 30.69 756 v SA at Durban 2009

6 Zaheer Khan Ind 715! 33.04 715 v Ban at Dhaka 2010

7 Morne Morkel SA 691*! 31.47 691 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

8 Harbhajan Singh Ind 679 31.00 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002

9 Stuart Broad Eng 673* 35.38 697 v SA at Durban 2009 10 Makhaya Ntini SA 671 28.82 863 v Ind at Durban 2006 11 Stuart Clark Aus 668* 23.86 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008 12 Paul Harris SA 648* 33.64 705 v Eng at Centurion 2009 13 James Anderson Eng 639 34.80 710 v Aus at Edgbaston 2009 14 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 626* 29.39 633 v Ind at Chittagong 2010 15 Ishant Sharma Ind 624*! 32.85 624 v Ban at Dhaka 2010 16 Daniel Vettori NZ 613 33.61 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000 17 Danish Kaneria Pak 599 34.27 723 v Eng at Multan 2005 18 Jerome Taylor WI 598* 35.64 717 v Eng at Kingston 2009 19 Peter Siddle Aus 597* 31.53 617 v Eng at The Oval 2009 20 Chris Martin NZ 592 33.61 643 v Eng at Lord's 2004

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating

1 Jacques Kallis SA 441 616 v Pak at Durban 2002

2 Daniel Vettori NZ 412! 412 v Pak at Napier 2009

3 Graeme Swann Eng 306*/* 307 v SA at Durban 2009

4 Mitchell Johnson Aus 302 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

5 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 295*/* 303 v Ind at Chittagong 2010

*Indicates a provisional rating

For information on the ICC Player Rankings go to: www.reliancemobileiccrankings.com.