LAHORE – Pakistan batsman Younis Khan, captain Misbah-ul-Haq and fast bowler Umar Gul have moved up in the ICC Player Rankings after showing good performances in the Wellington Test against New Zealand which ended in a draw on Wednesday.
Younis, who surged to the top of the batting table after his Karachi triple-century against Sri Lanka a couple of years ago, has climbed five places to 14th position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after his scores of 73 and 81.
Also returning to the top 20 is New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, whose innings of 78 and 52 have helped him rise five places to 20th position. Other batsmen moving in the right direction include Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq in 30th (up by six places) and Martin Guptill in 50th (up by five places).
India’s Sachin Tendulkar and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis share the coveted number-one position with Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara just one ratings point behind in third place. In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Umar has jumped four places to sit in 17th position after figures of 4-87 and 4-61. Chris Martin, who had match figures of 6-154, has moved up two places and is now in 15th spot while Tim Southee has joined India’s Amit Mishra in 42nd position after rising seven places. Dale Steyn of South Africa leads the pack with England duo of Graeme Swann and James Anderson in second and third positions, respectively.
There is no change in the top five of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with Kallis leading Daniel Vettori of New Zealand by a distance. In the Reliance ICC Test Championship, Pakistan has earned two ratings points for its 1-0 victory. As such, it is now on 90 ratings points and trails fifth-placed Australia by 17 points and leads seventh-placed West Indies by five. Eighth-placed New Zealand, in contract, has conceded two ratings points and has dropped to 78 to trail the West Indies by seven.
