Chanderpaul benefits from Sri Lankan player’s fall
Muralidaran returns to 900-point mark, Mendis enters rankings in 51st place; Laxman rises but Tendulkar and Dravid slip while Sehwag and Ganguly drop out of top 20
Sri Lanka ’s Kumar Sangakkara has slipped off the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Player Rankings for Test batsman following a low score in the first Test against India .
Sangakkarra, who surged to the top of the rankings in December last year, scored onl
y 12 in Sri Lanka’s 600-6 declared and has consequently dropped to second place which he now shares with Australia’s Mike Hussey.
West Indies ’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul has benefited from Sangakkara’s fall to lead the batting rankings for the first time in his career. The Guyanese player averaged 91 against Australia , South Africa and Sri Lanka in the past 12 months but still ended up on the losing side in five out of eight Tests.
However, the margin of difference between the Chanderpaul and Sangakkara is so small that if the Sri Lankan excels with the bat in the second Test, starting in Galle from 31 July, he will regain first place. On the other side of the coin, another low score will mean a further dip in the rankings for him.
Besides the change in the leader, there is also plenty of reshuffling down the order.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena has jumped three places to sixth and has hit his career-best rating (847) following a knock of 136. The 31-year-old batsman has never been ranked higher than fourth in Tests but he now has that mark in his sights.
Jayawardena’s team-mates Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilan Samaraweera and Malinda Warnapura have also gained valuable places following their centuries.
Dilshan has climbed seven places to 29th, Samaraweera has lifted eight places to 37th and Warnapura sits in 48th position after jumping 27 spots.
There is no good news for India in the batting list except VVS Laxman has improved his position by three places and is now in 18th spot.
Sachin Tendulkar, who scored 27 and 12, has slipped one place to 15th but still remains India ’s highest-ranked batsman. Rahul Dravid has dropped three places to 19tth while Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly have dropped out of the top 20.
Sehwag has slipped three places to 21st position while Ganguly now sits in 24th place after dropping four spots.
In Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Sri Lanka ’s iconic spinner Muttiah Muralidaran has returned to the 900-point mark in the ratings. In ranking terms, 900 points marks out a player as truly great. Only 19 players have achieved that tally in the 131 years of Tests.
Muralidaran claimed the man-of-the-match award for his 11-110 which means he has extended his advantage over second-placed Dale Steyn of South Africa who, in turn, will swap places with Australia ’s Stuart Clark when he misses the third Test against England starting at Edgbaston from Wednesday. A player loses one per cent of his rating for every missed match.
Ajantha Mendis, who recorded match figures of 8-132 in his debut Test, enters the rankings in 51st position.
There is more bad news for India because its three bowlers in the top 20 list have failed to defend their positions.
Captain Anil Kumble has dropped to ninth, Zaheer Khan has slipped to 16th while Harbhajan Singh moves down to 18th.
In the all-rounder listing, Sri Lanka ’s Chaminda Vaas has dropped one place to fifth. The chart is headed by South Africa’s Jacques Kallis, followed by Daniel Vettori of New Zealand, Dwayne Bravo of the West Indies and England’s Andrew Flintoff.
Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and bowlers (as of 28 July)
Batsmen
Rank +/- Player Team Points Avge HS Rating
1 (+1) S.Chanderpaul WI 890! 49.08 890 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
2= (-1) K.C.Sangakkara SL 882 54.81 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
(+1) Mike Hussey Aus 882 68.38 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
4= ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 880 58.37 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
( - ) Mohd Yousuf Pak 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6 (+3) M.Jayawardena SL 847! 52.51 847 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2008
7 (-1) Matthew Hayden Aus 834 53.51 935 v Eng at Brisbane 2002
8 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 823 56.28 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
9 (-1) Kevin Pietersen Eng 816 50.39 905 v WI at Headingley 2007
10 ( - ) Yunis Khan Pak 799 49.14 856 v Eng at Headingley 2006
11 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 723 47.06 761 v Ind at Melbourne 2007
12 ( - ) Graeme Smith SA 713 48.71 756 v NZ at Wellington 2004
13 ( - ) Ashwell Prince SA 707 43.90 756 v Pak at Centurion 2007
14 (+2) Andrew Symonds Aus 700* 44.65 718 v WI at Antigua 2008
15 (-1) S.R.Tendulkar Ind 684 54.98 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
16 (+1) Ian Bell Eng 683 43.46 703 v SA at Lord's 2008
17 (+2) AB de Villiers SA 679! 41.59 679 v Eng at Headingley 2008
18 (+3) VVS Laxman Ind 674 43.74 753 v Aus at Sydney 2004
19 (-4) Rahul Dravid Ind 673 54.41 892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005
20 (+2) Andrew Strauss Eng 662 41.67 769 v SA at Johannesburg 2005
Bowlers
Rank +/- Player Team Points Avge HS Rating
1 ( - ) M.Muralidaran SL 907 21.77 920 v Ban at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 864 22.51 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008
3 ( - ) Stuart Clark Aus 863*! 21.46 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Brett Lee Aus 793 29.58 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
5 ( - ) Ryan Sidebottom Eng 761* 25.27 769 v SA at Lord's 2008
6 ( - ) Makhaya Ntini SA 737 28.31 863 v Ind at Durban 2006
7 ( - ) Chaminda Vaas SL 689 29.24 800 v Ind at Chennai 2005
8 (+1) Shoaib Akhtar Pak 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
9 (-1) Anil Kumble Ind 669 29.26 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
10 ( - ) Shane Bond NZ 668* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006
11 ( - ) Monty Panesar Eng 641 32.27 721 v WI at Chester-le-St 2007
12 ( - ) Jerome Taylor WI 628*! 34.69 628 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
13 ( - ) Corey Collymore WI 621* 32.30 700 v Eng at Lord's 2007
14 ( - ) Mohammad Asif Pak 619* 23.13 710 v SA at Cape Town 2007
15 (+1) Danish Kaneria Pak 614 33.90 723 v Eng at Multan 2005
16= (-2) Zaheer Khan Ind 605 34.11 689 v Pak at Delhi 2007
(+2) Matthew Hoggard Eng 605 30.50 795 v SL at Edgbaston 2006
18 (-1) Harbhajan Singh Ind 594 31.35 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
19= ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 591 34.43 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 591 32.24 810 v Pak at Multan 2005
All-rounders
Rank +/- Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 467 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
2 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 324 360 v Eng at Lord's 2008
3 ( - ) Dwayne Bravo WI 295 /*! 295 v Aus at Bridgetown 2008
4 ( - ) Andrew Flintoff Eng 294 501 v Pak at Multan 2005
5 (-1) Chaminda Vaas SL 290 300 v WI at Guyana 2008
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