By IANS
Dubai : Anil Kumble is the highest ranked Indian bowler at the third place while Rahul Dravid is the highest ranked batsman at the eighth spot in the latest Test player's rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) here Saturday.
Dravid has 801 rating points while Sachin Tendulkar with 672 points is tied at 16th position along with South African captain Graeme Smith. Among the bowlers, veteran Kumble has 730 points while Irfan Pathan is ranked 17th with 618 points.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting (936) is still the top Test batsman, followed by Pakistan's Mohammed Yousuf (915). Englishman Kevin Pietersen (862) and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara (857) are third and fourth respectively.
Despite an outstanding series against the West Indies, Pietersen has recently dropped below the magic 900 rating points mark, indicating how difficult it is to maintain that score.
Mahela Jayawardena is the only other Sri Lankan player in the top 20 and given the way the Sri Lankan captain is playing these days he will feel he is in the right form to move up from his current 14th rank.
Meanwhile, top-ranked Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan is the only bowler who currently has in excess of 900 rating points. His current tally of 913 is just two behind his career best of 915 that he achieved during a series against Pakistan in 2002.
Muralitharan can also create history if he continues to dominate batsmen the way he does. He sits fourth in the all-time bowling rankings with his sights set firmly on the three names above him — Imran Khan (922 points), George Lohmann (931) and Sydney Barnes (932).
Muralidaran's teammate Chaminda Vaas will be seeking a return to the top 10 of the rankings for Test bowlers with another strong series. He is currently ranked 13th along with Corey Collymore of the West Indies.
1. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 936 rating points
2. Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan) 915
3. Kevin Pietersen (England) 862
4. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 857
5. Mike Hussey (Australia) 842
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia) 828
7. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 820
8. Rahul Dravid (India) 801
9. Younis Khan (Pakistan) 789
10. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 762
Bowlers:
1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 913
2. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 856
3. Anil Kumble (India) 730 and Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 730
5. Shane Bond (New Zealand) 722
6. Matthew Hoggard (England) 721 and Monty Panesar (England) 721
8. Stuart Clark (Australia) 720
9. Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) 710
10. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) 698
All-rounders:
1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 462
2. Andrew Flintoff (England) 384
3. Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 356
4. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 329
5. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 253