Pakistan have closed in gaps with India climbing to fourth place in the latest LG-ICC Test rankings released in Dubai on Sunday.
Pakistan, who were seventh on the ranking list, jumped three spots up with 103 points leaving behind South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, following their 2-0 series win against England on Saturday.
The win leaves them just nine points behind third-placed India, their next Test opponents in a three-match series at home starting in January.
As things stand, India would be desperate to win their three-Test series against Sri Lanka to grab their best-ever second position, in last four years, on the list.
A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for Rahul Dravid's side in that series will see them join England on 113 points but India will go into second place in the table when the ratings are calculated to three decimal places.
If Sri Lanka win 3-0, they would even leapfrog India into third spot while their 2-0 success would draw the two sides level on 106 points.
Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Akhtar have all surged up in the individual rankings after recording their first win in a Test series since December 2003.
Inzamam is joint third in the LG ICC Player Rankings for batsmen alongside Australia's Ricky Ponting and behind only South Africa's Jacques Kallis (the ICC Test Player of the Year) and Brian Lara of the West Indies.
Yousuf's career-best 223 in Lahore has propelled him up 11 places to ninth spot.
On the bowling front, Shoaib Akhtar has moved up three places to fourth in the LG ICC Player Rankings for bowlers. Shoaib claimed six scalps in the Lahore Test as part of a series haul of 17 wickets.
Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who took four wickets to hasten England's decline, has also moved up the rankings, easing up two spots to 13th and is now just 10 points short of his best-ever points haul.
Andrew Flintoff has slipped from the top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders in the wake of the series in Pakistan.
- Test rankings
| 1 | Australia | 128 |
| 2 | England | 113 |
| 3 | India | 112 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 103 |
| 5 | South Africa | 100 |
| 6 | New Zealand | 100 |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 99 |
| 8 | West Indies | 73 |
| 9 | Zimbabwe | 27 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 5 |
