DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – West Indies batting star Shivnarine Chanderpaul has lost the number one spot in the Reliance Mobile International Cricket Council player rankings for Test batsmen.
Chanderpaul held the top spot almost unbroken, on the Test batting list since July last year, but slipped to number two in the latest rankings list after his side’s 10-wicket defeat to England at Lord’s last week.
Pakistan’s Younis Khan is the new number one, while Chanderpaul shares second position with Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
Khan had briefly held the number one spot earlier this year thanks to the triple-century he scored in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lahore in late February.
The left-handed Chanderpaul, who was the 2008 ICC Player of the Year, scored only four runs – 0 and four – during the first Test against England but will have an immediate chance to make amends in the second Test starting Thursday.
Another batsman slipping in the rankings is England’s Kevin Pietersen, whose first-ball duck in the first innings at Lord’s has ensured he drops three places in the latest rankings. Pietersen now sits in ninth position.
The only other West Indies batsman in the Top-20 is Ramnaresh Sarwan, who slips one place to 14th, with West Indies captain Chris Gayle 21.
Outside the top 20, Ravi Bopara was the big mover, gaining 45 places to 72nd position after scoring his second Test century for England last week against Gayle’s Windies.
In the bowlers’ ratings, off-spinner Graeme Swann whose haul of six for 55 off 22 overs made him man of the match against West Indies at Lord’s, climbed eight places up to 23rd.
West Indies pacer Fidel Edwards is back in the Top-20 at 20th after his first innings six for 92 at Lord’s. His new-ball partner Jerome Taylor, at ninth, is the only West Indian in the Top-10.
Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan keeps the No.1 position, stalked by South African Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson, of Australia.
On the all-rounders’ list, Gayle dropped out of the top five and is now sixth on the list that is still headed by South African Jacques Kallis followed by Johnson and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori third.
BATTING
1 Younis Khan (PAK)
2=Shiv Chanderpaul (WI)
2=Kumar Sangakkara (SL)
4 Gautam Gambhir (IND)
5 Mahela Jayawardene (SL)
6 Ricky Ponting (AUS)
7 Graeme Smith (SA)
8 Michael Clarke (AUS)
9 Kevin Pietersen (ENG)
10 Jacques Kallis (SA)
14th Ramnaresh Sarwan (WI)
21st Chris Gayle (WI)
BOWLING:
1 Muttiah Muralitharan (SL)
2 Dale Steyn (SA)
3 Mitchell Johnson (AUS)
4 Stuart Clark (AUS)
5 Makhaya Ntini (SA)
6 Harbhajan Singh (IND)
7 Paul Harris (SA)
8 Chaminda Vaas (SL)
9 Jerome Taylor (WI)
10 Brett Lee (AUS)
20th Fidel Edwards (WI)
ALL-ROUNDERS
1 Jacques Kallis (SA)
2 Mitchell Johnson (AUS)
3 Daniel Vettori (NZ)
4 Andrew Flintoff (ENG)
5 Chaminda Vaas (SL)
6th Chris Gayle (WI)
