By IANS
Dubai : A brilliant 319 against South Africa in the first Test match last week propelled India’s Virender Sehwag to 12th place in the Test batsmen’s rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) here Monday.
Sehwag is the top Indian batsman in the list, which is headed by Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara with 916 rating points.
Sehwag’s triple ton – the fastest in Test history – moved him up 13 places. On current form, Sehwag has a realistic chance of returning to the top 10.
He is within touching distance of 10th place Kevin Pietersen of England who is just behind ninth-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies.
Rahul Dravid rises two places to 13th spot following his 25th Test century in the Chennai Test. Sachin Tendulkar drops three places to 15th after a fifth-ball duck and V.V.S. Laxman goes down one place to 18th.
Besides Sehwag, South Africa’s batting duo of Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have also made significant upward movement in the rankings.
Amla, who made scores of 159 and 81 in both the innings, moves up 10 places to a career-best 24th spot while McKenzie, who contributed 94 and 155 not out, jumps 26 places to 36th position.
It is McKenzie’s first time in the top 40 in four years.
Jacques Kallis, however, continues his slide in the rankings as he slips another place to drop to fourth behind Australia’s Ricky Ponting, while captain Graeme Smith falls two places to 16th position.
In the rankings for Test bowlers, South Africa’s Dale Steyn took 4/103 to stay within touching distance of Sri Lanka’s Muthiah Muralitharan who still leads the list.
India’s Harbhajan Singh has climbed four places to 24th position after match figures of 8/265. The 28-year-old stands a good chance of returning to top 20 as only 25 ratings points separates him from James Franklin of New Zealand, who occupies the 20th place.
The player rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Kallis but he is on the verge of dropping below the 500-point mark after conceding 23 ratings points from the Chennai Test.
Irfan Pathan is the highest ranked India all-rounder in seventh place while captain Anil Kumble is in 10th position.
Test rankings:
Batsmen:
1. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 916 rating
2. Mike Hussey (Australia) 912
3. Ricky Ponting (Australia) 899
4. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 880 and Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan) 880
6. Matthew Hayden (Australia) 860
7. Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka) 844
8. Younis Khan (Pakistan) 799
9. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 785
10. Kevin Pietersen (England) 784
Bowlers
1. Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 901
2. Dale Steyn (South Africa) 887
3. Stuart Clark (Australia) 829
4. Brett Lee (Australia) 795
5. Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 753
6. Anil Kumble (India) 731
7. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 717
8. Shane Bond (New Zealand) 688
9. Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) 684
10. Ryan Sidebottom (England) 665
All-rounders:
1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 504
2. Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 340
3. Andrew Flintoff (England) 320
4. Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 300
5. Dwayne Bravo (West Indies) 265