Sangakkara closes in on number 1 spot, while Younis, Hafeez & Azhar slip down

[pakcricketfan]

ICC MEDIA RELEASE
Dubai, 26 June 2012

Sangakkara closes in on number-one batting spot

Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara’s match-winning unbeaten knock of 199 against Pakistan in the first Test in Galle has helped him vault three places to second in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, which were released on Tuesday.

Sangakkara now trails number-one placed West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul by just six points and can potentially regain the top spot with another solid performance in the second Test, which starts in Colombo on Saturday.

Sangakkara last topped the batting table in November 2011 before slipping down the order in March 2012.

The left-handed batsman was declared man of the match in Galle where Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 209 runs to go 1-0 up in the three-Test series.

The other Sri Lanka centurion in the Galle Test, Tillekeratne Dilshan, has also been rewarded with a jump of eight places. He now sits in 28th position.

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena in 13th (up by two), Prasanna Jayawardena in 45th (up by four), Pakistan duo of Asad Shafiq in 38th (up by four) and Adnan Akmal in 75th (up by 13) are some of the other batsmen to make upward movements.

Pakistan’s top-scorer in the second innings, Younus Khan, has slipped a place to fifth. The other Pakistan batsmen to drop in the latest chart are Mohammad Hafeez in 36th (down by five) and Azhar Ali in 19th (down by seven).

The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers is still headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn with Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan and England’s James Anderson in second and third positions, respectively.

Sri Lanka spinner Suraj Randiv’s match haul of seven for 99 has earned him a jump of 12 places, which put him in 41st spot. Nuwan Kulasekara, who ended with match figures of five for 75, has re-entered the rankings at 43rd place.

The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan with South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in second spot.

Reliance ICC Test Rankings (as of 26 June, after Galle Test)

Batsmen Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 856 50.44 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
2 (+3) K Sangakkara SL 850 55.70 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (-1) AB de Villiers SA 821! 49.16 821 v NZ at Wellington 2012
4 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 819 56.78 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
5 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 808 52.53 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
6 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 771 48.77 855 v Eng at Headingley 2009
7 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 763 46.98 842 v Ind at Kolkata 2010
8 (+1) Ross Taylor NZ 761 43.52 775 v Pak at Wellington 2009
9 (+1) Alastair Cook Eng 756 48.54 836 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
10 (+1) Graeme Smith SA 753 49.64 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
11 (+1) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 749 55.44 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
12 (-6) T Samaraweera SL 742 52.00 775 v SA at Cape Town 2012
13 (+2) M Jayawardena SL 73551.04 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
14 ( - ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 734 45.27 771 v Eng at Abu Dhabi 2012
15 (+1) Ian Bell Eng 723 47.63 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
16 (+1) Kevin Pietersen Eng 718 49.33 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
17 (+1) Jonathan Trott Eng 709 51.22 856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
18 (+1) Mike Hussey Aus 705 50.07 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
19 (-7) Azhar Ali Pak 703 41.02 749 v Eng at Dubai 2012
20 ( - ) Ricky Ponting Aus 691 52.75 942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

28 (+8) T Dilshan SL 617 40.65 700 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
31 (-2) Angelo Mathews SL 580* 39.54 586 v Eng at Colombo (PSS) 2012
36 (-5) Mohammad Hafeez Pak 551 35.48 591 v Eng at Dubai 2012
38 (+4) Asad Shafiq Pak 544*! 37.73 544 v SL at Galle 2012
45 (+4) P Jayawardena SL 505 32.29 510 v Eng at Galle 2012
46 (-6) Taufeeq Umar Pak 502* 38.39 703 v SA at Faisalabad 2003
48 (-1) NT Paranavitana SL 500 33.16 547 v Pak at Sharjah 2011
75 (+13) Adnan Akmal Pak 336* 26.85 362 v Eng at Dubai 2012

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

1 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 886 23.18 902 v SL at Centurion 2011
2 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 836! 26.75 836 v SL at Galle 2012
3 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 785 30.05 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
4 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 781! 31.81 781 v Pak at Galle 2012
5 ( - ) V Philander SA 764*! 14.15 764 v NZ at Wellington 2012
6 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 758 30.42 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
7 ( - ) Ben Hilfenhaus Aus 756* 28.03 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
8 ( - ) Graeme Swann Eng 742 28.57 858 v Pak at Lord's 2010
9 ( - ) Peter Siddle Aus 740 29.27 768 v Ind at Adelaide 2012
10 (+1) Morne Morkel SA 733 30.03 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
11 (+1) Zaheer Khan Ind 697 31.78 752 v SA at Durban 2010
12 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 678* 31.33 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
13 (-3) Abdur Rehman Pak 677* 29.00 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
14 ( - ) Tim Bresnan Eng 657*! 26.09 657 v WI at Edgbaston 2012
15 ( - ) Chris Martin NZ 651 33.59 669 v SA at Hamilton 2012
16 (+1) Kemar Roach WI 620* 29.31 644 v Eng at Lord's 2012
17 (-1) Umar Gul Pak 613 33.03 642 v Eng at Dubai 2012
18 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 611 34.16 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
19 ( - ) Ryan Harris Aus 587* 23.63 614 v WI at Bridgetown 2012
20 ( - ) Pragyan Ojha Ind 572* 34.62 595 v WI at Mumbai 2011

Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

41 (+12) Suraj Randiv SL 377*! 34.97 377 v Pak at Galle 2012
43 (RE) N Kulasekara SL 367*! 30.77 367 v Pak at Galle 2012
50 (+5) Mohammad Hafeez Pak 332*! 32.89 332 v SL at Galle 2012
59 (+1) Junaid Khan Pak 287* 32.00 328 v SL at Dubai 2011
103 (-1) Angelo Mathews SL 71* 72.71 110 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2009
137 (+6) Nuwan Pradeep SL 7*! 194.00 7 v Pak at Galle 2012

All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating

1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 404/*! 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
2 ( - ) Jacques Kallis SA 385 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
3 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 354 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
4 ( - ) Daniel Vettori NZ 349 412 v Pak at Napier 2009
5 ( - ) Shane Watson Aus 334/* 394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011

Selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating

11 (+3) Mohammad Hafeez Pak 183/* 184 v Eng at Abu Dhabi 2012
15 (+1) Tillekeratne Dilshan SL 161/*! 161 v Pak at Galle 2012

* indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
! indicates career-highest rating

[cricketindiafan]

The biggest surprise is Herath at number 4. A vastly underrated and silent performer for SL since Murali's retirement. Won them the Durban test, won them the test vs Eng and played a key role in win over WI.

[James]

Herath is fat but he is also intelligent, and class. Has been underestimated by a number of teams now.

[srh]

so this is how Pakistan's top 7 batsmen in tests are ranked:

5. Younus Khan
14. Misbah-ul-Haq
19. Azhar Ali
36. Mohammad Hafeez
38. Asad Shafiq
46. Taufeeq Umar
75. Adnan Akmal

Taufeeq Umar, Asad Shafiq and Mohammad Hafeez are the weakest links.

[rhussain33]

Theres no other direction for Hafeez to go other then down by the way things are looking

[PlanetPakistan]

I am quite satisfied with Pakistan's test batting line up, even Taufeeq Umar(ranked 46) is hardly a poor batsman. Surprisingly the only problem with the team is that they lack 1 world class pace bowler.

[srh]

so this is how Pakistan's top 7 batsmen in tests are ranked with their current trend:

5. Younus Khan [Going DOWN]
14. Misbah-ul-Haq [SAME]
19. Azhar Ali [Going DOWN]
36. Mohammad Hafeez [Going DOWN]
38. Asad Shafiq [Going UP]
46. Taufeeq Umar [Going DOWN]
75. Adnan Akmal [Going UP]

[talha3]

Ajmal distances himself from Anderson and closes in on Steyn, who is still way ahead.

[freelance_cricketer]

Great for him and well deserved. Have got bit bored of old chaps holding on to top positions though. I'd really be glad to see the likes of Kohli, Ali, Chandimal replacing those legends in a year or so. That's what our game badly needs, for the youngsters to step up just like Tendulkar and Lara did in early 90s

[qadoos]

don't worry they will be back if they get full series against B/desh?

[withlovefrom vizag]

Funny part abt ICC's t20 rankings is that Eoin Morgan is ranked #2 and he cant even play for a domestic team like KKR

[Pakprideuk]

these rankings are based on the first game. Once Azhar scores well in the second which im sure he will, i cant remember a series in which he hasn't scored heavily, his rating will be back up.

[freelance_cricketer]

Originally Posted by withlovefrom vizag Funny part abt ICC's t20 rankings is that Eoin Morgan is ranked #2 and he cant even play for a domestic team like KKR

Only because the IPL teams have loads of foreign players to chose from and there are only 4 places. In that regard for a foreign player, getting into an IPL playing XI is a lot tougher than getting into any International team.

[withlovefrom vizag]

Originally Posted by freelance_cricketer Only because the IPL teams have loads of foreign players to chose from and there are only 4 places. In that regard for a foreign player, getting into an IPL playing XI is a lot tougher than getting into any International team.

yeah but he is world #2