Dubai , 31 March 2008Opener’s 319 helps him jump ahead of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman
Master blaster Virender Sehwag, who made 319 in the drawn Test with South Africa in Chennai has become the top ranked India batsman in the latest LG ICC Test Rankings.
Sehwag, whose triple ton was the fastest in Test history in 278 balls, leaps 13 places to 12th spot in the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsman after a massive 17 per cent rise in his rating following his breathtaking batting display.
Sehwag’s ranking is his highest in two years while in 2004, the 29-year-old from New Delhi had jumped to second place behind team-mate Rahul Dravid.
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 .
Sehwag has leapfrogged Dravid, who himself rises two places to 13th spot following his 25th Test century, Sachin Tendulkar, who drops three places to 15th position after a fifth-ball duck, and VVS Laxman, down one place to 18th spot.
Besides Sehwag , South Africa ’s batting duo of Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have also made significant upward movement.
Amla, who made scores of 159 and 81, rockets 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 LG ICC Player 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 that 20th place.
The LG ICC 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.
LG ICC Test Rankings (as of 31 March, after first India – South Africa Test)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) K.C.Sangakkara SL 916 55.99 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Mike Hussey Aus 912*! 78.14 912 v Ind at Adelaide 2008
3 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 899 58.53 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
4= (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 880 57.28 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
(+1) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6 ( - ) Matthew Hayden Aus 860 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
7 ( - ) M.Jayawardena SL 844! 52.39 844 v WI at Guyana 2008
8 ( - ) Yunus Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Leeds 2006
9 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 785 46.88 838 v SA at Cape Town 2008
10 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 784 49.74 909 v WI at Leeds 2007
11 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 744 46.45 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 (+13) Virender Sehwag Ind 733 53.48 854 v SA at Kolkata 2004
13 (+2) Rahul Dravid Ind 727 55.41 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
14 (-1) Stephen Fleming NZ 725! 40.06 725 v Eng at Napier 2008
15 (-3) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 718 55.31 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
16 (-2) Graeme Smith SA 705 48.64 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
17 ( - ) Alastair Cook Eng 679 43.46 711 v SL at Galle 2007
18 (-1) VVS Laxman Ind 676 44.16 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
19 ( - ) Ian Bell Eng 674 43.15 684 v SL at Kandy 2007
20 ( - ) P.D.Collingwood Eng 668 42.54 730 v Aus at Adelaide 2006
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) M.Muralidaran SL 901 21.90 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 887 21.94 893 v Ban at Chittagong 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 829* 21.88 843 v Ind at Perth 2008
4 ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 795! 29.97 795 v Ind at Adelaide 2008
5 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 753 28.09 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
6 ( - ) Anil Kumble Ind 731 28.98 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
7 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 717 29.06 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 688* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
9 ( - ) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 665*! 26.60 665 v NZ at Napier 2008
11 ( - ) Corey Collymore WI 646* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
12 (+1) Matthew Hoggard Eng 637 30.50 795 v SL at Birmingham 2006
13 (-1) Zaheer Khan Ind 632 33.60 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
14 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 621 32.02 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
15 ( - ) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
16 ( - ) Monty Panesar Eng 617* 32.45 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
17 ( - ) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
18 ( - ) Chris Martin NZ 609 32.66 643 v Eng at Lord's 2004
19 ( - ) Irfan Pathan Ind 602 31.41 761 v SL at Delhi 2005
20 ( - ) James Franklin NZ 594* 28.19 679 v SL at Christchurch 2006
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 504 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 340 359 v Eng at Hamilton 2008
3 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 320 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
4 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 300! 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
5 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 265 /*! 265 v SL at Guyana 2008
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