Dubai, Oct 27, 2013: South Africa’s AB de Villiers has overtaken teammate Hashim Amla at the top of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen to regain the number-one spot that he last held in April 2012 in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Tests, which were released on Sunday.
The latest rankings were released after South Africa beat Pakistan by an innings and 92 runs in the second and final Test in Dubai on Saturday to level the series 1-1.
De Villiers, who came into the Dubai Test on 882 ratings points, earned 27 ratings points for his knock of 164 to finish at a career-best 909 to thereby become only the 28th batsman in the history of the game to break the 900-rating points barrier, a benchmark for top batsmen.
In so doing, de Villiers also became only the fifth South Africa batsman to achieve the rare distinction as he reclaimed his position at the top of the batting table. Dudley Nourse, Graeme Pollock, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla are the other South Africa batsmen to break the 900-point barrier.
De Villiers, who finished as the Player of the Series with 273 runs, is now 24th in the all-time batting ratings list.
Amla, who did not play in the Dubai Test, has now dropped to second place on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. Amla had been on top of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen since February 2013, when he overtook Australia captain Michael Clarke.
Player of the match in the Dubai Test and South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who scored 234 and shared a record 338-run fifth wicket stand with de Villiers, has jumped seven places to eighth to return to the top 10 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen for the first time since August 2012.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has also moved up the rankings, advancing one place to a career-best sixth as he continued his consistency with the bat, scoring a fighting 88 in the second innings of the Dubai Test.
Pakistan’s Asad Shafiq has jumped eight places to 17th to return to the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following his second innings knock of 130 in the Dubai Test.
The latest rankings also reflect the drawn Mirpur Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand, which resulted in a drawn series 0-0.
Outside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Bangladesh batsmen Tamim Iqbal in 31st (up by nine) and Mominul Haque in 32nd (up by 17) are the others to make an upwards move, along with South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis in 44th (up by one) and New Zealand’s BJ Watling in 50th (up by 11).
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, there is no change in the top 10. South Africa’s Dale Steyn continues to head the table with teammate Vernon Philander in second position, while Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal are in third and fourth place, respectively. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has moved up one place to 16th.
Outside the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, New Zealand’s Neil Wagner is now in 45th (up by 15), while South Africa’s Imran Tahir was rewarded for match figures of five for 32 and three for 98 in the Dubai Test with a jump of 24 places to a career-best 57th. —- ICC
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