Sachin Tendulkar remained static at ninth in the batting list, while Zaheer Khan dropped a rung, to occupy the ninth position in the bowling charts in the latest ICC Test rankings released on Friday.
The duo is the only Indian pair inside the top 10 of the batting and bowling lists.
- For Rediff Realtime News on Indian shooting, click here
Elsewhere, off-spinner Saeed Ajmal rose to the world's highest-ranked spinner after bowling Pakistan to a 10-wicket win over No 1-ranked England in the first Test, which ended in three days in Dubai.
The 34-year-old from Faisalabad not only won the man of the match award for his figures of seven for 55 and three for 42, but also climbed to No 3 in the rankings.
Ajmal rises to No 3
Saeed, who ended with his second 10-wicket haul in his 18th Test for Pakistan, jumped nine places, and while doing so, leapfrogged England's off-spinner Graeme Swann, who slipped one position to fourth.
Saeed, who earned 117 ratings points for his magnificent bowling performance, now has England's second-ranked James Anderson firmly within his sights as he trails by 37 ratings points. Saeed's spin partner Abdur Rehman has also achieved a career-best ranking. Left-arm spinner Rehman was awarded for his match figures of four for 89 with a leap of five places which has put him in 14th position.
South Africa's pace ace Dale Steyn continues to lead the bowling pack by a distance. In the rankings for Test batsmen, the news is not very good for England batsmen.
Pietersen out of the top 10 in batsmen's list
Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, who had occupied third and fourth positions respectively, have slipped two and three positions. Kevin Pietersen has fallen out of the top 10.
Pietersen, who scored two and zero in the Dubai Test, has lost six places and is now in 16th position while England captain Andrew Strauss has also dropped six places to 34th spot. The only England batsmen to make any upward movements are wicketkeeper Matt Prior in 18th (up by one) and Swann in 64th (up by 11).
Pakistan players take flight
In contrast, Pakistan batsmen made positive gains, with Younis Khan in fourth spot (up by two), captain Misbah-ul-Haq placed at 14th (up by three), Mohammad Hafeez in the 30th place (up by 15), Taufeeq Umar in 32nd (up by six) and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal in 70th (up by 23).
Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara leads the batsmen, while South Africa's Jacques Kallis is just four ratings points behind in second position.
AB de Villiers is third, 24 ratings points ahead of Younis.
Comment
article