Tendulkar, who won the ICC cricketer of the year award last year, currently shares the number-one spot with Jacques Kallis of South Africa. —AFP photo

DUBAI: World’s best cricketer Sachin Tendulkar is set to lose his top position in the ICC player rankings for Test batsmen as he will not feature in number one ranked India’s three-match Test series against the West Indies starting in Kingston, Jamaica on Monday.

Tendulkar, who won the ICC cricketer of the year award last year, currently shares the number-one spot with Jacques Kallis of South Africa.

However, the 38-year-old Indian batsman opting to take rest means losing one per cent of his ratings points for every Test he misses, giving Kallis the sole number one position.

Tendulkar could potentially drop behind England’s Jonathan Trott, who though is still in the qualification period for batsmen, is likely to move further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the remainder of the third Test against Sri Lanka in Southampton.

Like Tendulkar, other missing Indian players Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan will not only drop points but might also slip in rankings. —Agencies