India have a chance to zoom to the second place in the ICC Test rankings if they beat Australia by a margin of two matches or more.

Anil Kumble's side currently lies in third position, seven ratings points behind South Africa and 29 points behind Australia. A series win of 4-0 would see India move ahead of Graeme Smith's men and reduce the gap with the leader to just seven points.

Scorelines of 3-0, 3-1 or 2-0 would also be enough for India to claim second position and put pressure on Australia, which has been at the top of the ICC Test Championship table for more than five years.

However, a 1-0 or 2-1 win for India would leave it in third position but close the gap on the Proteas to just one ratings point and Australia would come back to the chasing pack by losing eight points.

But if Australia wins the series by two Tests or more it can widen the gap further. A 4-0 sweep would put Ricky Ponting's men almost out of sight, 26 points clear of its nearest rival.

The coming weeks would also be testing times for Indian trio -- Virender Sehwag (10th), VVS Laxman (15th) and Rahul Dravid (16th) --- as a good show in the series will see them improve their ranking.

It will also be an important series for out-of-action Sachin Tendulkar as a solid performance will see him break into the top 20 once again. Tendulkar is currently lying in 23rd position, his lowest ranking in 15 years. Australian skipper Ricky Ponting and team-mate Michael Hussey will also have their share of the pie as a good batting display can catapult either of them to the top of the ICC Test Player Rankings.

Currently, Hussey is in third position, just eight ratings points adrift of West Indies left-hander and ICC Cricketer of the Year 2008 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, while Ponting is just two points further back.

This series can also reap rich dividents for Matthew Hayden (seventh place) and Michael Clarke (13th) who can also make moves in the right direction.

On the bowling front also, there will be a lot of movements and if spinning duo of Harbhajan Singh (12) and skipper Anil Kumble (10) can wreck havoc in the Australian camp they can surely hope to climb a few places up the order.

Zaheer Khan, the only fast bowler in the top 20, can also hope to see some movement one way or another during the series.

This series will also give a chance to Australia's Stuart Clark to be the new numero uno displacing Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan at the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

Brett Lee, the other Australian in the top five can also fancy his chances the series will give him ample scope to push back up above the 800-point mark.