New Delhi, After an inspiring performance in the Test series against Australia, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh moved two places to the seventh spot in the bowler's list in the latest Test rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The off-spinner picked up 15 wickets in the three Tests and is now enjoying his highest rankings in five years. The 28-year-old took seven wickets in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur and, as a result, has moved past Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar but is still well behind the next highest placed Ryan Sidebottom of England and also Australia's Brett Lee, who had a disappointing series by his standards taking eight wickets at an average of 61.62.

Meanwhile, the news is not so good for Zaheer Khan who loses three places following the Nagpur Test and now sits in 18th position. The left-arm pacer took just one wicket for 125 runs in the fourth Test as his new-ball partner Ishant Sharma continued to shine at the other end.

Sharma is up six places to 30th position after taking another four wickets in the match and being named as the player of the series. It is the first time the 20-year-old has broken into the top 30 during his short career to date.

Leg-spinner Amit Mishra continues his rise in the bowling rankings, gaining six places to 43rd position, a remarkable showing considering he has played just three Tests.

The bowling rankings continue to be headed by Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan, followed by South Africa's Dale Steyn in second place and Clark.

In the batting rankings Sachin Tendulkar continued his current patch of good form registering his 40th Test century at that match in Nagpur. He gained three places in the process and now sits in 16th position just behind Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, who loses one place to 15th.

Virender Sehwag has moved up two places to 11th spot and is now very close behind Jacques Kallis of South Africa (10th) and Matthew Hayden (9th) of Australia.

The West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul is still top of the batting list followed very closely by Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka in second place.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slipped two places to seventh in the rankings and out of the top five for the first time since 2004. The Tasmanian scored a century in the first innings of the first Test of the four-match series but since then has averaged only 23.83 and that led to his speedy slide down the list.

Batsmen:

1.Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) 890 rating points
2.Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) 886
3.Mohammed Yousuf (Pakistan) 880
4.Mike Hussey (Australia) 876
5.Mahela Jayawardena (Sri Lanka) 837
6.Kevin Pietersen (England) 829
7.Ricky Ponting (Australia) 826
8.Younis Khan (Pakistan) 799
9.Matthew Hayden (Australia) 781
10.Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 774

Bowlers:

1.Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 895
2.Dale Steyn (South Africa) 847
3.Stuart Clark (Australia) 821
4.Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 760
5.Brett Lee (Australia) and Ryan Sidebottom (England) 738
7.Harbhajan Singh (India) 688
8.Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) and Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) 684
10.Shane Bond (New Zealand) 654

All-rounders:

1.Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 458
2.Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 369
3.Andrew Flintoff (England) 302
4.Dwayne Bravo (West Indies) 295
5.Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 281

EMAIL THIS NEWS COMMENTS No comments yet