KARACHI: Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara reclaimed the top spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen from West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul after another big century against Pakistan in the second Test that ended in a draw at the Singhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo on Wednesday. Sangakkara, who entered the Test trailing Chanderpaul by six ratings points, earned 42 for his magnificent 192 and he is now just eight points short of once again returning to the 900 points mark. Apart from Sangakkara, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali also scored big hundreds and, as such, have moved up. Dilshan scored 121 and added 225 runs for the second wicket with Sangakkara. For this effort, the opener has been rewarded with a jump of five places which put him in 23rd position. Pakistan’s Azhar Ali stroked a superb 157 and featured in a 287-run second wicket partnership with opener Mohammad Hafeez. This effort earned Azhar 39 ratings points which lifted him six places to 13th position. Hafeez, who scored a brilliant 196, collected 44 ratings points and moved up six places to 30th position. Other batsmen to head in the right direction include Misbah-ul-Haq in 11th (up by three places) and Taufeeq Umar in 40th (up by six places). There were no big movers inside the top 20 in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers except Pakistan’s Abdul Rehman who has climbed two places to 11th following his five wickets in the match. Outside the top 20, Pakistan’s left-arm fast bowler Junaid Khan, who picked up the man of the match award for his five for 73 in the first innings, has vaulted 17 places and now sits in 42nd position, his career-best ranking. The bowlers’ list is headed by Dale Steyn of South Africa with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal in second position. Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath is sitting in fourth place.
