Chance for Kallis to become 23rd batsman to reach 900-point mark in LG ICC Test Rankings

South Africa's Jacques Kallis is on the verge of joining an exclusive club of Test players to reach 900 rating points in the LG ICC Playing Rankings for Test batsmen.

The mark is an indication of true quality as to achieve it a player has to be among the very best over a protracted period, something confirmed by the fact only 22 players in Test history have got there.

But now Kallis, whose personal best mark of 896 rating points came in December 2005, is once again knocking on that door to become number 23.

His superlative innings of 155 and 100 not out, that paved the way for the Proteas' 160-run win in the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi, have seen him secure 68 rating points and put him at 888, just eight points behind his career-best mark.

And a repeat of that sort of form in the second Test in Lahore that starts on Monday will give him every chance of breaking through the 900-point mark for the first time.

Three of his contemporaries are already there, with Australia captain Ricky Ponting leading the listings with 936 rating points from Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf (906 points) and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara (900).

Kallis's two centuries in the match in Karachi, that made him only the fourth South Africa player to achieve the feat, allowed him to leapfrog England's Kevin Pietersen and the Australian duo of Mike Hussey and Matthew Hayden and move into fourth place in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

And Kallis is not the only South African to make a move in the rankings. In the bowling table paceman Dale Steyn, who had match figures of 7-106, climbs six places to 26th while left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who took 7-131, jumps 14 spots to 40th in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

Nevertheless, the same cannot be said about Pakistan's new ball bowlers Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul. Asif drops four places to 10th and Umar slips two spots to 20th.

However, there is a positive news for Pakistan with the progress of left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, into the listing in 57th place after match figures of 8-210 in Karachi.

South Africa's Makhaya Ntini remains a distant second to Sri Lanka's talismanic spinner Muttiah Muralidaran while team-mate Shaun Pollock - left out of the side in Karachi - and New Zealand's Shane Bond are joint third.

Shoaib Malik's first Test as Pakistan captain may have ended up in disappointment but he can take some personal comfort from a move up 11 places to 42nd in LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsman while South Africa's Hashim Amla's 71 in the first innings helps him climb six places to 61st.

Kallis is comfortably clear at the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all- rounders. Pollock lies third with the injured Andrew Flintoff of England between the Proteas' duo.

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