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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
Australia's David Warner's batting exploits in the third and final Test against South Africa earned him a career-best fifth in the latest ICC Rankings for Test batsmen, even as India's Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli dropped to No 8 and 10 respectively.
Warner, who slammed 135 and 145 in each innings of the series-deciding Cape Town Test, which Australia won by 245 runs, rose five places and is now the highest-ranked Australia batsman.
His skipper, Michael Clarke, occupies ninth place.
The batting table is still headed by AB de Villiers, with Kumar Sangakkara in second place and Shivnarine Chanderpaul third.
Pujara slipped one place while Kohli lost two.
Check out the top ten Test batsmen.
1. AB de Villiers (South Africa)
South Africa's AB de Villiers is the world's top-ranked Test batsman. The right-hander is in great form, having scored a century and 91 in the first two Tests against Australia.
Even though he failed in the third and final Test (14 and 43) he played as many as 228 deliveries in the second innings and kept the Aussie bowlers at bay for more than five hours.
De Villiers averages an impressive 51 in 92 Tests, with a tally of 7168 runs.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
2. Kumara Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
Kumar Sangakkara is a distant second to De Villiers.
The left-hander was unstoppable in the two-match series against Bangladesh last month. He scored a vintage 319 in the first innings of the second Test in Chittagong, while hitting 105 and 75 in the other two knocks, for a tally of 499 runs at an average of 166 that saw him pip Shivnarine Chanderpaul to second place in the rankings.
He has already scored 649 runs in five Tests in 2014, inclusive of two hundreds and three half-centuries.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
3. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
Veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul is certainly one of the toughest batsmen to dismiss in Test cricket.
With his unusual stance, he has been carrying the inexperienced West Indian batting single-handedly for the last so many years.
He is a close third in the rankings, behind Sangakkara.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
4. Hashim Amla (South Africa)
Hashim Amla had a rare blip, failing in the two-Test series against India in December.
He struggled against Australia too, and except for his 127 not out in the second Test in Port Elizabeth, his golden touch deserted him.
As a result, he dropped to fourth in the Test rankings,
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
5. David Warner (Australia)
David Warner played a huge role in helping Australia triumph in a closely-fought series in South Africa.
Following a smashing run in the Ashes back home, with a tally of 523 runs, he produced another amazing show in South Africa, scoring 543 runs in the three-match series, including two hundreds in the third and final Test.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
6. Ross Taylor (New Zealand)
Ross Taylor had some issues last year as he took a break from national duty but returning with a bang, scoring runs by the ton.
He scored 866 runs in 10 matches in 2013, averaging 72, with a highest of 217 among his three centuries.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
7. Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq displayed fine form scoring three back-to-back half-centuries against Sri Lanka in the two-Test series in UAE.
This year he has already aggregated 364 runs in three matches, while in 2013 he scored 570 runs in eight Tests.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
8. Cheteshwar Pujara (India)
India's batting sensation Cheteshwar Pujara was unstoppable last year.
In eight Test matches in 2013, he scored 829 runs, with three hundreds and three fifties, but struggled in the two-Test series in New Zealand, scoring just 60 runs in four innings, and slipped down the ladder.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
9. Michael Clarke (Australia)
Michael Clarke topped the run-scoring charts in 2013 with 1093 runs in 13 Tests, registering four hundreds and three half-centuries.
This year, though, he struggled a bit before roaring back to form with a smashing knock of 161 not out against South Africa in the third Test in Cape Town.
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Check out the Top 10 Test batsmen: De Villiers 1, Pujara 8
10. Virat Kohli (India)
Virat Kohli has emerged as the most dependable batsman in the Indian team across all formats.
Last year he scored 616 runs in eight Tests and continued his form into the new year, aggregating 214 runs in two matches in New Zealand.