Sehwag leapfrogs Dravid, Tendulkar in Test rankings

DUBAI, March 31: Virender Sehwag's career best 319 against South Africa catapulted him to the 12th spot in the ICC Test Rankings, making him the highest ranked Indian in the batting chart.

Sehwag, whose triple ton was the fastest in Test history, jumped 13 places to 12th spot after a massive 17 per cent rise in his rating that saw him leapfrogging compatriots Rahul Dravid (13th), Sachin Tendulkar (15th) and VVS Laxman (18th).

On current form, Sehwag has a realistic chance of returning to the top 10. He is within touching distance of 10th place Kevin Pietersen of England who is just behind ninth-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies.

Dravid himself rose two places to 13th following his 25th Test century, while Tendulkar dropped three places to 15th position after a fifth-ball duck in the Chennai Test against South Africa.

Besides Sehwag, South African batting duo of Hashim Amla and Neil McKenzie have also made significant upward movement.

Amla, who made scores of 159 and 81, rocketed up 10 places to a career-best 24th spot while McKenzie, who contributed 94 and 155 not out, jumped 26 places to 36th position.

Jacques Kallis, however, continued his slide in the rankings as he slipped another place to drop to fourth behind Australia's Ricky Ponting, while captain Graeme Smith fell two places to 16th position.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, South Africa's Dale Steyn took 4/103 to stay within touching distance of Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan who still leads the list.

For India, Harbhajan Singh has climbed four places to 24th position after match figures of 8/265 and the 28-year-old stands a good chance of returning to top 20 as only 25 ratings points separates him from James Franklin of New Zealand, who occupies the 20th place.

The LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Kallis but he is on the verge of dropping below the 500-point mark after conceding 23 ratings points from the Chennai Test.

Irfan Pathan is the highest ranked India all-rounder in seventh place while captain Anil Kumble, sixth in the bowlers' chart, is in 10th position.