Harbhajan Singh

Calcutta: India’s Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh are on the rise in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings, according to a media release.

The duo are the big movers in the new listings thanks to their pivotal performances in India’s 170-run win over Sri Lanka in Galle which levels the three-match series with one game to go. The third Test starts in Colombo on Friday.

Sehwag climbed 10 places to 11th in the chart following his innings of unbeaten 201 (his fifth score of 200 or more in Tests). He is now the highest-ranked Indian batsman. Off-spinner Harbhajan rose seven spots to No.11 after a match haul of 10/153, his fifth 10-wicket haul in Tests and his second against Sri Lanka.

Below Sehwag and inside the top 20 are his teammates Sachin Tendulkar (17th), Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman (joint 18th). Sourav Ganguly is 26th. Gautam Gambhir, another big climber, went up 28 spots to 49th.

Anil Kumble (9th) remained India’s highest-ranked bowler but Zaheer Khan in 18th made it a hattrick in the top 20 for India. Further down the ladder are the trio of Irfan Pathan (26th), Sreesanth (33rd) and RP Singh (42nd) but Ishant Sharma has nudged into the top 50, up six places to 48th.

Kumar Sangakkara, who started the series at the top of the batting chart, is now fifth. He dropped a place after the first match at the SSC and has slipped three more spots after Galle.

The left-hander stayed Lanka’s top-ranked batsman but Mahela Jayawardene is now just a spot below him. The batting list is still headed by the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul, albeit just clear of the Australian duo — Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting and Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan.

Sri Lanka, though, still possess the player at the top of the bowling ladder, spinner Muttiah Muralidharan, while spinner Ajantha Mendis is now 39th in the table after just two Tests.

South Africa, fresh from a series win over England with one match to go, have two bowlers inside the top 10 with Dale Steyn — who missed the Edgbaston Test through injury — now third while veteran pacer Makhaya Ntini held firm in sixth position.

In the batting list, South Africa have three players inside the top 20 — Jacques Kallis in eighth spot, captain Graeme Smith in 12th and Ashwell Prince in 15th.

If England are looking for consolations after their series loss then they are on thin ice.

Michael Vaughan, who resigned as captain on Sunday, has dropped one place to joint 37th position, alongside Ross Taylor of New Zealand.

Ryan Sidebottom remained England’s highest-ranked bowler in fifth position and Andrew Flintoff climbed three places to 16th.

South Africa’s series win means they have safeguarded the second place in the Test Championship table. However, if India can complete their comeback and take the series against Sri Lanka, then they will keep up the pressure on Smith & Co. Victory in the final match of the series will see Anil Kumble’s side rise to 115 rating points and if England win the final match against the Proteas, it will mean the gap between South Africa and India will be just one point.

TEST RANKINGS

Batsmen

1. S. Chanderpaul (WI, 890); 2. M. Hussey (Aus, 882); 3. R. Ponting (Aus, 880); M. Yousuf (Pak, 880); 5. K. Sangakkara (SL, 874); 6. M. Jayawardene (SL, 844); 7. M. Hayden (Aus, 834); 8. J. Kallis (SA, 814); K. Pietersen (Eng, 814); 10. Y. Khan (Pak, 799).

Bowlers

1. M. Muralidharan (SL, 899); 2. S. Clark (Aus, 863); 3. D. Steyn (SA, 855); 4. B. Lee (Aus, 793); 5. R. Sidebottom (Eng, 745*); 6. M. Ntini (SA, 735); 7. C. Vaas (SL, 699); 8. S. Akhtar (Pak, 684); 9. A. Kumble (Ind, 670); 10. S. Bond (NZ, 668).

Allrounders

1. J. Kallis (SA, 473); 2. D. Vettori (NZ, 324); 3. A. Flintoff (Eng, 306); 4. D. Bravo (WI, 295); 5. J. Oram (NZ, 279).