South Africa go into their five-match one-day international series against India, which starts in Hyderabad on Wednesday, just three matches away from a new world record.
Graeme Smith’s side are unbeaten in their past 19 matches (16 wins, two no-results and a tie), which leaves them just two games short of Australia’s record mark of 21, which included their unbeaten World Cup campaign, in 2003.
It has been an amazing turn-around by the Proteas as, before their current run, they managed just one win in their previous 13 matches.
Since then, they have beaten England, Zimbabwe, the West Indies and New Zealand and have surged up the International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day international championship table.
South Africa currently sit in second spot on 120 points, 16 behind leaders Australia, but a clean sweep of the series against Rahul Dravid’s side will lift them to 127 points and drop India, currently in seventh place on 107 points, back to 103 points.
A 4-1 victory would see the Proteas rise to 123 points (India would slip to 106), while a 3-2 margin for the touring side would see them maintain their current rating of 120 while India would rise one point, to 108.
The home side go into this series on the back of a thumping 6-1 success against Sri Lanka and those victories have left them within touching distance of a host of sides above them in the championship table.
India are just one point behind sixth-placed New Zealand and only two behind Sri Lanka and England, who occupy fourth and fifth spots on the table respectively.
A clean sweep of the series would lift them to 114 points, overtaking all the above mentioned sides plus the Proteas (who would slip to 110 points) and into third place, with only Pakistan and Australia ahead of them.
A 4-1 success for India would raise their rating to 112 points and cut South Africa’s to 113, while even a 3-2 success for the home team would take them above New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka, to 110 points (South Africa would drop to 117).
A glance at the ICC one-day international player rankings shows why South Africa have enjoyed a successful run.
Smith is third in the batting list and he is joined in the top 10 by Herschelle Gibbs (joint ninth), fit again after missing the Johnnie Walker Super Series through injury.
They have a third batsman in the top 20 in Jacques Kallis (19th), Mark Boucher is 42nd and Justin Kemp, whose blazing hitting has been a key factor in South Africa’s run, is joint 46th (with his best rating to date) along with teammate Ashwell Prince.
With the ball, South Africa have two players in the top 10 with Makhaya Ntini in fourth spot and Shaun Pollock just behind him in fifth, while fellow fast-bowler Andre Nel nudged into 20th spot at the end of the recent series against New Zealand.
For India, Dravid is their top-rated batsman, in sixth place after moving up 18 places during the Sri Lanka series, and he is close to his highest rating to date, while Sachin Tendulkar, fit again after his long-term elbow injury, is joint ninth with Gibbs.
Mahendra Dhoni, who rose 38 places during the Sri Lanka series, is now 16th in the batting listings, opener Virender Sehwag is 25th and Yuvraj Singh, in 31st spot, is now just short of his best rating to date.
India have one player, Irfan Pathan, in the top 10 bowling positions and two others, Harbhajan Singh (13th) and Ajit Agarkar (16th), in the top 20, with Agarkar also closing in on his best rating to date. — Sapa