DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Veteran West Indies left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the new number one-ranked batsman in the world, following his prolific series against Australia.
In the latest rankings announced by the International Cricket Council yesterday, Chanderpaul leapt two places to regain the top spot after a three-year absence.
“It feels good to be back in the number one position in Test cricket,” the 37-year-old said.
“I am batting well at the moment and when things are going well for you at the crease you try to keep going and building and look to make the most of every innings you play.”
The 37-year-old left-hander amassed 346 runs to be the leading run-getter in the three-Test series against the Aussies which the Windies lost 2-0.
He averaged 86, scored a century at Kensington Oval in the first Test that put him second on the all-time West Indies list behind the incomparable Sir Garry Sobers and became only the second West Indian and tenth player in history to surpass 10 000 Test runs during the recent Dominica Test.
The performance saw him overtake previous number one South African AB de Villiers who slipped to second.
South African Jacques Kallis also slid one spot to third.
Chanderpaul last held the top spot back in February 2009 before losing it three month months later.
The Guyanese had first reached the number one position in July 2008 by deposing Sri Lankan stroke-maker Kumar Sangakkara and remained on top for seven months.
Chanderpaul, who now has 10 055 runs from 140 Tests at an average of 50, can re-enforce his number one ranking when he heads to England for a three-Test series next week.
Meanwhile, there were contrasting fortunes for other West Indies batsmen.
Rookie left-hander Darren Bravo dropped one place to 20th and Narsingh Deonarine slipped eight places to 67th.
Captain Darren Sammy, however, jumped 10 places to 73rd while young left-hander Kieran Powell also rose 10 places to 93rd.
Openers Adrian Barath and Kraigg Brathwaite both lost places in the rankings and are now 81st and 94th respectively.
In the bowlers’ rankings, pacer Kemar Roach continued his rise by moving up two places to 14th while off-spinner Shane Shillingford leapt 21 spots to 46th following his 10-wicket haul in the recent third Test against Australia.
Roach started the series in 37th spot and gained 21 places overall after finishing as the most successful bowler of the series with 19 wickets at just under 20 runs per wicket.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Selected positions from the latest ICC Test player rankings announced yesterday:
BATTING
1 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) 827
2 AB de Villiers (SA) 821
3 Jacques Kallis (SA) 819
4 Younus Khan (PAK) 797
5 Kumar Sangakkara (SL) 779
6 Alastair Cook (ENG) 777
7 T.Samaraweera (SL) 772
8 Michael Clarke (AUS) 771
9 Hashim Amla (SA) 763
10 Ross Taylor (NZ) 761
20 Darren Bravo (WI) 693
67 Narsingh Deonarine (WI) 360
73 Darren Sammy (WI) 341
81 Adrian Barath (WI) 328
93 Kieran Powell (WI) 281
94 Kraigg Brathwaite (WI) 273
BOWLING:
1 Dale Steyn (SA) 886
2 Saeed Ajmal (PAK) 835
3 James Anderson (ENG) 798
4 Graeme Swann (ENG) 779
5 Rangana Herath (SL) 769
6 Vernon Philander (SA) 764
7 Ben Hilfenhaus (AUS) 756
8 Stuart Broad (ENG) 749
9 Peter Siddle (AUS) 740
10 Abdur Rehman (PAK) 739
16 Kemar Roach (WI) 619
25 Darren Sammy (WI) 551
27 Fidel Edwards (WI) 532
43 Ravi Rampaul (WI) 349
46 Shane Shillingford (WI) 336
50 Narsingh Deonarine (WI) 325