Daren Ganga ... tried to evade questions about his poor form afterthe third Test at Old Trafford. - File

MANCHESTER, England (CMC):

DAREN GANGA has deflected concern over his own form following a double failure in the third Test at Old Trafford which the West Indies lost by 60 runs Monday.

The right-handed Ganga scored just five and nought in his two innings and now has a paltry 99 runs from six Test innings on tour.

"It's difficult for me but the entire team showed a lot of character. If we had pulled off a victory, it would not have bothered me in terms of how much I scored individually or how many anybody scored individually," Ganga said in response to a question about his poor form.

"I think what mattered is our team winning and what we do to contribute towards that. We showed a lot of character and a lot of the guys put their hand up and played with a lot of pride, a lot of purpose and it's only going to augur us well for the rest of the series."

Ganga, elevated to the captaincy after Ramnaresh Sarwan was ruled out of the series with a shoulder injury, averages 26 from 44 Tests.

Ratings up

Meanwhile, Shivnarine Chanderpaul's form in the England series has catapulted him eight places up the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test batting rankings while seamer Corey Collymore has moved into the top 10 of the bowlers' rankings.

The 32-year old Chanderpaul is now 13th in the rankings released yesterday, slightly ahead of in form England opener Alastair Cook who is 14th.

Chanderpaul, the most senior batsman in the West Indies rankings with 103 Tests, has been the best regional batsman with 240 runs in just two Tests, at an average of 120.

He hammered 74 in the first innings of the opening Test at Lord's and after missing the second Test at Headingley with a knee injury, rebounded with an even 50 and an unbeaten 116 in the just-concluded third Test at Old Trafford.

Chanderpaul is the only West Indies batsman in the top 20 with out-of-sorts opener Chris Gayle having slipped two places to 29th. All-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who has scored 204 runs in three Tests on tour at an average of 40, has moved three places up to 31st.

Consistent performer

Collymore, a steady seamer considered the spearhead of the Windies attack, has moved up two places in the bowling rankings and into the top 10 following his performances in the England series.

The 29-year-old has performed consistently in the series and grabbed three wickets in the first innings at Old Trafford to overtake England's Andrew Flintoff and Pakistan Shoaib Akhtar.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting remains unmoved at the top of the rankings along with the first 12 batsmen.

Sri Lanka's spin king Muttiah Muralitharan leads the bowlers' rankings with the top nine also unmoved.

England's left-arm spinner Monty Panesar has shot 14 places up the rankings to 12th following his capture of 17 wickets in the series to date.