tendulkar-afp543
India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has closed the gap on Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara to just two ratings points at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings following his 50th Test century in the Centurion Test which finished on Monday.
Tendulkar now has an excellent opportunity to overtake Sangakkara for the top spot, with two Tests of the three-match series still remaining, although he will face tough competition from Jacques Kallis.
Kallis’ double century, the first of his career, has earned him a rise of one place to third spot while pushing Virender Sehwag into fourth position. This has also strengthened Kallis’ position as the leading all-rounder in Test cricket with a huge 78 ratings points advantage over New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori who is in second spot.
Fifth-placed AB de Villiers’ 129 not out from just 112 balls has earned him a new career-high rating of 806 points, while Hashim Amla, who hit 140 in South Africa’s mammoth total of 620-4dec in the first innings, has moved up three places to ninth spot in the latest rankings.
Meanwhile, Mike Hussey’s heroics in the Perth Test match, where he scored 61 and 116 in Australia’s 267 run-victory over England, have seen him fly eight places up the rankings. He now sits in sixth position, which is the first time that he has been in the top 10 of the batting rankings in two years.
Shane Watson’s consistent form in the Ashes series has seen him rise a further 13 places to 13th spot, achieving a career-high rating after his performances in Perth, while Kevin Pietersen’s double failure in the match has sent him in the opposite direction in the rankings, falling nine places to a joint-25th position with Ian Bell. Jonathan Trott has also slipped four places to 10th spot.
On the bowling front, Dale Steyn’s seven wickets have ensured that he maintains the top spot in the bowling rankings.
Mitchell Johnson’s outstanding performance in Perth, taking 6-38 and 3-44, is rewarded with a fourth place in the rankings, a rise of three places, although he remains behind Morne Morkel who also jumps three spots to third after he achieved match figures of 7-114 against India.
ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 21 December)
Batsmen
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Ave | HS Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | K.Sangakkara | SL | 882 | 57.25 | 938 v Engat Kandy 2007 |
| 2 | ( - ) | S.Tendulkar | Ind | 880 | 56.91 | 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002 |
| 3 | (+1) | Jacques Kallis | SA | 846 | 56.82 | 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007 |
| 4 | (-1) | Virender Sehwag | Ind | 832 | 54.37 | 866 v SL at Galle 2010 |
| 5 | ( - ) | AB de Villiers | SA | 806! | 48.63 | 806 v Ind at Centurion 2010 |
| 6 | (+8) | Mike Hussey | Aus | 803 | 52.83 | 921 v WI at Kingston 2008 |
| 7 | ( - ) | M.Jayawardena | SL | 781 | 53.82 | 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009 |
| 8 | ( - ) | S.Chanderpaul | WI | 779 | 48.98 | 901 v NZ at Napier 2008 |
| 9 | (+3) | Hashim Amla | SA | 768 | 47.93 | 842 v Ind at Kolkata 2010 |
| 10 | (-4) | Jonathan Trott | Eng | 767* | 57.28 | 785 v Aus at Adelaide 2010 |
| 11 | (-1) | T.Samaraweera | SL | 763! | 54.25 | 763 v WI at Pallekele 2010 |
| 12 | (-3) | Graeme Smith | SA | 762 | 50.52 | 843 v Eng at Jo’burg 2010 |
| 13 | (+13) | Shane Watson | Aus | 729! | 42.11 | 729 v Eng at Perth 2010 |
| 14 | (-1) | Alastair Cook | Eng | 727 | 45.83 | 739 v Aus at Adelaide 2010 |
| 15 | (-4) | VVS Laxman | Ind | 725 | 47.08 | 775 v Aus at Mohali 2010 |
| 16 | ( - ) | Younus Khan | Pak | 715 | 50.37 | 880 v SL at Lahore 2009 |
| 17 | (+1) | Ross Taylor | NZ | 711 | 41.54 | 775 v Pak at Wellington 2009 |
| 18 | (+1) | Chris Gayle | WI | 709 | 41.65 | 755 v SL at Galle 2010 |
| 19 | (+1) | Tamim Iqbal | Ban | 707*! | 40.13 | 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010 |
| 20 | (+2) | M.Yousuf | Pak | 703 | 52.29 | 933 v WI at Karachi 2006 |
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Ave | HS Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | Dale Steyn | SA | 876 | 23.65 | 897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008 |
| 2 | ( - ) | Graeme Swann | Eng | 821 | 27.62 | 858 v Pak at Lord's 2010 |
| 3 | (+3) | Morne Morkel | SA | 768! | 30.18 | 768 v Ind at Centurion 2010 |
| 4 | (+3) | Mitchell Johnson | Aus | 755 | 29 | 825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009 |
| 5 | (-2) | James Anderson | Eng | 744 | 31.76 | 756 v Aus at Adelaide 2010 |
| 6 | (-1) | Mohammad Asif | Pak | 738 | 24.36 | 818 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2010 |
| 7 | (-3) | Zaheer Khan | Ind | 736 | 32.22 | 751 v NZ at Hyderabad 2010 |
| 8 | (+1) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 648* | 32.09 | 650 v Ind at Chittagong 2010 |
| 9 | (+1) | Mohammad Amir | Pak | 645* | 29.09 | 658 v Eng at Lord's 2010 |
| 10 | (-2) | Harbhajan Singh | Ind | 633 | 32.21 | 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002 |
| 11 | (+1) | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 622 | 33.97 | 681 v Aus at Auckland 2000 |
| 12 | (-1) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 619* | 35.24 | 697 v SA at Durban 2009 |
| 13 | ( - ) | Doug Bollinger | Aus | 609* | 25.92 | 666 v Ind at Mohali 2010 |
| 14 | ( - ) | Paul Harris | SA | 600 | 37 | 705 v Eng at Centurion 2009 |
| 15 | ( - ) | Ishant Sharma | Ind | 597* | 35.54 | 624 v Ban at Mirpur 2010 |
| 16 | ( - ) | Chris Martin | NZ | 569 | 34.98 | 643 v Eng at Lord's 2004 |
| 17 | ( - ) | Peter Siddle | Aus | 567* | 32.68 | 621 v Eng at Brisbane 2010 |
| 18 | ( - ) | Jerome Taylor | WI | 563* | 35.64 | 717 v Eng at Kingston 2009 |
| 19 | ( - ) | Steven Finn | Eng | 557*! | 26.23 | 557 v Aus at Perth 2010 |
| 20 | ( - ) | Ajantha Mendis | SL | 552* | 31.93 | 572 v Ban at Chittagong 2009 |
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | HS Rating |
| 1 | ( - ) | Jacques Kallis | SA | 451 | 616 v Pak at Durban 2002 |
| 2 | ( - ) | Daniel Vettori | NZ | 373 | 412 v Pak at Napier 2009 |
| 3 | ( - ) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 338/* | 361 v Eng at Mirpur 2010 |
| 4 | ( - ) | Shane Watson | Aus | 321/*! | 321 v Eng at Perth 2010 |
| 5 | ( - ) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 289/* | 318 v Pak at Lord's 2010 |
!indicates career-highest rating
-ICC release