Pujara, Powell and Ojha on the charge

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 19: Jacques Kallis (L) of South Africa celebrates after scoring a soccer goal as part of a training drill during a South African Proteas training session at Adelaide Oval on November 19, 2012 in Adelaide, Australia.

Kallis to enter Adelaide Test as the number-one ranked all-rounder; opportunity for Amla and Philander to go top of batting and bowling tables

There has been a significant shake-up in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings after the conclusion of the Ahmedabad, Galle and Mirpur Tests, while the second Test between Australia and South Africa, starting in Adelaide on Thursday, may lead to changes at the top of the batting and bowling tables.

India defeated England by nine wickets in Ahmedabad, with Cheteshwar Pujara picking up the man of the match award. Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 10 wickets in Galle, with Rangana Herath collecting the player of the match award, and Kieran Powell was adjudged man of the match in Mirpur where the West Indies overpowered Bangladesh by 77 runs.

Herath has achieved a career-best rating of 828 points on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers following his match figures of 11 for 108, while Pujara and Powell have earned career-best rankings to storm up the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Pujara has rocketed 35 places to 24^th position after scoring an unbeaten 206, while Powell has been rewarded for becoming the first West Indian to score two centuries in a Test against Bangladesh and eighth overall with a jump of 19 places which has put him in 51^st spot.

But Pujara and Powell are not the only batsmen to make upward movements in latest rankings which were released on Monday evening.

England captain Alastair Cook, who scored a gutsy 176 in his side’s second innings, has returned to the top 10 by rising four places to seventh, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has jumped six places to 13^th position after scoring a classy 91 in the first innings, Matt Prior has become the fifth England batsman inside the top 20 after achieving a career-best ranking of 18^th, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews’ contribution of 79 runs in a 156-run sixth wicket partnership with Jayawardene has given him a career-best ranking of 28^th, New Zealand’s Daniel Flynn’s contributions of 53 and 20 has allowed him to improve his ranking by five places and he is now in 63^rd position, Denesh Ramdin’s third career century for the West Indies has vaulted him seven places to 68^th position while Bangladesh’s Nasir Hossain’s effort of 96 and 21 has lifted him from 85^th spot to 69^th position.

AHMEDABAD, INDIA – NOVEMBER 14: England captain Alastair Cook speaks with bowling coach David Saker during a nets session at Sardar Patel Stadium on November 14, 2012 in Ahmedabad, India.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who scored 203 not out, has not improved his ranking but has gained 27 ratings points which has put him just one rating point behind fourth-ranked Australia captain Michael Clarke, whereas Virender Sehwag is now in 22^nd position after gaining one place following his 23^rd Test century.

India’s left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha leads the bowlers’ charge.

The 26-year-old, who recorded match figures of 77.2-24-165-9, has broken into the top five for the first time in his career after jumping nine places in the bowler rankings, New Zealand’s Tim Southee has moved up 10 places to 30^th after his first innings performance of four for 46, Ravi Rampaul’s five wickets for the West Indies has lifted him eight places to 33^rd spot while Bangladesh’s debutant Sohag Gazi has entered the rankings in 51^st position after match figures of 70.2-9-219-9.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis will enter the Adelaide Test against Australia as the number-one ranked Test all-rounder, while team-mates Hashim Amla and Vernon Philander will have opportunities to top the batting and bowling tables, respectively.

Kallis has regained the number-one ranking after Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan conceded 21 ratings points and slipped one place to second position after scoring 91 runs and taking two wickets against West Indies. Also losing ground is England’s Stuart Broad, who has dropped behind New Zealand’s fourth-ranked Daniel Vettori.

While Kallis will be eyeing to cement his number-one spot in the Adelaide Test, Amla will be aiming to leapfrog Sri Lanka’s number-one ranked Kumar Sangakkara, and Philander will have his new ball partner and number-one ranked Dale Steyn firmly within his sights.

Amla, who is already enjoying his career-best rating, trails Sangakkara by just four ratings points and a good performance with the bat will mean that he will become one of the very few batsmen to top both the Test and ODI batting tables at the same time.

Philander is 19 ratings points behind Steyn, who has been holding the number-one spot since July 2009. Philander has played a total of 11 Tests, in which he has taken 63 wickets. As such, he is still in the qualification period for bowlers as a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

This means Philander could potentially overtake number one Steyn, depending on how both the bowlers perform in Adelaide.

Forthcoming Tests

21-25 Nov – Bangladesh v West Indies (2^nd Test), Kulna

22-26 Nov – Australia v South Africa (2^nd Test), Adelaide

23-27 Nov – India v England (2^nd Test), Mumbai

25-29 Nov – Sri Lanka v New Zealand (2^nd Test), Colombo

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 20: Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel look on during a South African Proteas training session at Adelaide Oval on November 20, 2012 in Adelaide, Australia.

For more information go to www.reliancemobileiccrankings.com

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 20 November, after the Ahmedabad, Galle and Mirpur Tests, and before the start of Khulna and Adelaide Tests)

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating

1 ( – ) K.Sangakkara SL 880 56.44 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

2 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 876! 50.37 876 v Aus at Brisbane 2012

3 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA 859 57.30 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007

4 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 857! 50.84 857 v SA at Brisbane 2012

5 ( – ) S.Chanderpaul WI 856 50.94 901 v NZ at Napier 2008

6 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 810 49.02 821 v Eng at The Oval 2012

7 (+4) Alastair Cook Eng 787 48.71 836 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011

8 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 761 51.69 880 v SL at Lahore 2009

9 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 753! 45.27 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

10 ( – ) Graeme Smith SA 741 49.39 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating

1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 859 23.86 902 v SL at Centurion 2011

2 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 840* 17.60 852 v Eng at Lord’s 2012

3 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 832 27.09 836 v SL at Galle 2012

4 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 828! 30.26 828 v NZ at Galle 2012

5 (+9) Pragyan Ojha Ind 764*! 30.38 764 v Eng at Ahmedabad 2012

6= (-1) James Anderson Eng 741 30.59 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011

( – ) Ben Hilfenhaus Aus 741* 28.48 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012

8 (-1) Peter Siddle Aus 734 29.76 768 v Ind at Adelaide 2012

9 ( – ) Morne Morkel SA 721 30.59 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

10 ( – ) Kemar Roach WI 705* 27.69 712 v NZ at Kingston 2012

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating

1 (+1) Jacques Kallis SA 403 616 v Pak at Durban 2002

2 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 383 /* 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011

3 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 327 /* 394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011

4 (+1) Daniel Vettori NZ 302 412 v Pak at Napier 2009

5 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 296 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating

For more information go to www.relianceiccrankings.com.