Their defeat against Sri Lanka in the tri-series followed by Australia’s win over England in the fourth One-dayer resulted to India dropping to third place in the ICC ODI rankings list.

India were displaced from the top spot within 24 hours of gaining it after their morale-shattering 139-run defeat against the hosts Sri Lanka.

After India’s defeat, Australia defeated England by seven wickets to take a 4-0 lead in the seven-match series, which pushed India to third.

Both India and Australia have 125 points each but the latter are ahead when points were calculated upto decimals, according to the ICC website.

South Africa occupy the top slot. India will take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series on Monday in Colombo.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship

Australia have been knocked off its long-held perch as the number-one team in the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship.

England won the final Test at the Oval by 197 runs and regained the Ashes sparking joyful scenes across sunny south London. But for the visitors, the picture was far more bleak.

Ricky Ponting’s side has now slipped to fourth position in the rankings with South Africa assuming top spot due to Australia’s demise. Such is the competitive nature of Test cricket at present, there are now just six ratings points separating the Proteas and Australia with Sri Lanka currently occupying second spot, ahead of India in third by just a fraction of a point.

For being defeated by fifth-placed England in the series, Australia loses eight ratings points and is knocked off top spot for the first time since the current method of ranking was introduced in May 2003. The Test team rankings are only updated at the end of each series.

For its part, England stays fifth but gains six ratings points and now sits just 11 behind Australia.

Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued to top the One-day batsmen chart with his deputy Yuvraj Singh occupying the second position in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings released on Wednesday.

Apart from Dhoni and Yuvraj, Delhi dasher Virender Sehwag, at the seventh spot, is the other Indian to feature in the top 10 batsmen list.

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir are at the 14th and 17th spot respectively in the chart.

However, no Indian features among top 10 ODI bowlers with left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan languishing at the 17th spot in the list which is being headed by Sri Lankan Nuwan Kulasekara, followed by Kyle Mills and Daniel Vettori of New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan continued to top the ODI all-rounders table, followed by England’s Andrew Flintoff in the second spot and Kiwi Jacob Oram at the third position.

India also managed to hold on to their second best ODI team status with 126 rating points.

South Africa tops the table with a point lead over India, while World Champions Australia is lying third with 119 points.

India opener Gautam Gambhir slid one rung down to third as he swapped places with Australian vice-captain Michael Clarke who shone with the bat in the fourth Ashes Test, in the ICC Test rankings issued on Monday.

Clarke, who achieved his best-ever Test rankings, is now sitting just seven points behind Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara (862).

The 28-year-old New South Welshman has pushed Gambhir (847) into third place after his 93 in Leeds helped his side to an innings victory over England that levels the closely fought series 1-1 with one match to play.

Clarke’s captain Ricky Ponting is also reflecting on a personally satisfying match with his innings of 78 earning him two places up to seventh.

Sachin Tendulkar (14th), VVS Laxman (17th) and Virender Sehwag (18th) are the other Indians in the top 20.

In the bowlers’ list headed by South African Dale Steyn, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh gained one place to fifth while injured pacer Zaheer Khan remained on ninth.

Ishant Sharma is the last bowler in the top 20.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his deputy Yuvraj Singh retained the top two slots in batsmen’s list, while Team India managed to cling on to second position in the ICC ODI Rankings issued on Monday.

Dhoni held on to his numero uno status with 828 rating points while left-handed Yuvraj, who had managed his career best ranking last month, had 784 points in his kitty.

The Indian duo are followed by Australia’s Mike Hussey (767), West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul (759) and his skipper Chris Gayle (756) in the list.

Virender Sehwag (seventh), Sachin Tendulkar (14th) and Gautam Gambhir (17th) stuck to their respective positions.

Meanwhile, South Africa remained on top of ODI Championships table, followed by India and Australia at second and third.

Among the bowlers, injured left-arm pacer Zaheer Khan continued to be the only Indian in top 20 at 16th.

Sri Lankan Nuwan Kulasekara tops the bowlers’ list.

Gautam Gambhir’s stay at the top of the ICC Test batsmen ranking lasted just 10 days as Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara grabbed the coveted position from the Indian opener on Saturday.

Gambhir had replaced Pakistani run-machine Mohammad Yousuf as the number one Test batsmen on July 15 but Sangakkara’s match-saving 130 run innings in the third Test against Pakistan propelled him to the top.

By virtue of his performance in the third and final Test against Pakistan, the 31-year-old Sri Lankan wicket-keeper gained two places to secure the number one position with 862 points while Gambhir followed him with 847 points.

Apart from Gambhir, no other Indian finds a place in the top-10 chart and the next in the list is Sachin Tendulakar, who dropped a place to find himself in the 15th spot.

Among Indian bowlers, Harbhajan Singh has dropped a spot to the sixth while Zaheer Khan gained one rung to be ninth.

South African Dale Steyn leads the bowlers chart, followed by Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson.

Meanwhile, there was no change in the top-five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with South African Jacques Kallis still leading the pack, followed by Johnson and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

England captain Andrew Strauss on Tuesday returned to the top-20 of the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen after leading his side to victory in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s with a hundred in the first innings.

The 32-year-old left-hander, who also achieved some personal landmarks this week such as crossing the 5,000-run mark and scoring his 18th Test century during the match, has gained seven places in the latest rankings and now occupies 14th position.

Strauss’s team-mate Kevin Pietersen slipped out of the top-10 following the second Test, allowing South African Jacques Kallis to be back in the rankings, which is still headed by India’s Gautam Gambhir, followed by Younis Khan of Pakistan in second place and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara in the third.

Australian Michael Clarke’s heroics in the second innings have been recognised in the latest rankings as he gained two places to sixth position, overtaking his captain Ricky Ponting in the process.

Strauss’s opening partner Alastair Cook has gained three places in the rankings and has returned to the top 20 at the expense of Australia’s Michael Hussey who dropped to 22nd place.

Another Australian to suffer in the latest rankings is opening batsman Simon Katich who loses three places to 17th position, level with VVS Laxman of India.

Further down the batting list, it has been a good week for Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who scored an unbeaten 96 in the second innings leading his side to victory by four wickets over the West Indies in Grenada. Shakib has gained 13 places in the batting rankings and now sits in 43rd position.

Shakib’s bowling performance in the match has also pushed him into the top five of the Rankings for Test all-rounders. The 22-year-old took match figures of 8-129 and jumps seven places to fourth in the table.

Kallis still leads the all-rounders’ list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia second and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori third.

On the bowling front, England’s Andrew Flintoff has leaped four places to 14th in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers following his man-of-the-match performance at Lord’s.

Having taken the new ball in the second innings, the big Lancastrian took 5-92 as England won by 115 runs giving him a welcome boost in the rankings.

Further down the list, West Indies’ young seamer Kemar Roach gained 20 places to 47th position after his efforts in Greneda. The 21-year-old took 6-42 in the first innings and he now has 13 wickets from just two matches in what is an excellent start to his Test career for the man from Barbados.

The bowling rankings are still led by South Africa’s Dale Steyn with Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka in second place and Johnson third.

India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir never thought of rising to the top of the ICC Test rankings in such short span of his career but more than the numero uno status he felt happy to have helped the country win matches abroad.

Gambhir had become only the sixth Indian to occupy the top slot of the ICC Test chart and he did that in the fifth year of his international career, having made his debut against Australia in November in Mumbai.

“I never thought to get to the top (of ICC Test chart) so soon. But it is great to reach the top of the rankings,” he said.

“But more than the top spot I am happy to have helped India win Test matches in England, Australia and New Zealand. I have contributed in them and I am happy,” the 27-year-old left-hander said.

Asked which form of cricket he enjoyed most, Gambhir said, “The great players of the game excel in Test cricket. Any cricketer would want to make a name in Test cricket. It is just the same for me also,” he said.

On his relationship with Virender Sehwag, Gambhir said he would not shy away from taking advice from his opening partner on any cricketing issue.

“I had an excellent on and off-field relationship with Sehwag. I don’t have any hesitation to go up to him and sort out any cricketing issues with him,” Gambhir said.

The Delhi batsman said he would spend the nearly two-month break from cricket with his family members.

“I have been away from home for the last seven months so I will spend the break from cricket with my family. As for marriage I have not thought about it. Lots of cricket are coming up after two months. So cricket is my priority now,” the Delhi batsman said.

Australia’s batting might in the drawn Ashes opener was mirrored in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen with opener Simon Katich, middle-order batsmen Marcus North and stumper Brad Haddin achieving career-best slots.

Katich, who scored 122, has gone up by four places and now sits in 14th position alongside India great Sachin Tendulkar. North, who struck an unbeaten 125, has rocketed 23 places to 43rd position while Haddin, who scored 121, has climbed six places to 30th spot.

Besides the trio, captain Ricky Ponting has also inched towards the top five after scoring an elegant 150 and is now in sixth place after swapping positions with Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardena.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke has replaced South Africa captain Graeme Smith in eighth place and opener Phillip Hughes has lifted himself two places to 33rd position.

Australia’s only disappointment is the fall of Mike Hussey whose first innings contribution of three has resulted in him dropping out of the top 20 for the first time since his rapid rise up the table at the start of his international career.

England’s only batsman to make an upward movement is Paul Collingwood who has returned to the top 20 by climbing five places to 19th position after scoring two half-centuries in the match, including a gritty 74 in the second innings that spanned almost six hours of batting.

Three of the top four England batsmen – Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook and Ravi Bopara – have dropped in the latest rankings while Kevin Pietersen has managed to hang on to his 10th place.

Pakistan senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who returned to international cricket with a cracking century against Sri Lanka in the first Test, zoomed to the number one spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings.

After snapping his ties with the rebel Indian Cricket League, Yousuf marked his return to the national team in style, hitting a pivotal 112 in the first innings at Galle.

The numero uno status, which Yousuf attained toppling his skipper Younis Khan, gives Pakistan a 1-2 position in the table for the first time since the rankings were introduced in June 1987.

Yousuf was second when he was removed from the rankings table early in 2009 as Pakistan had not played a Test match since before the qualification date for the rankings.

Even though Yousuf shone with the bat, Pakistan made a mess of things on the fourth day of the Test when it lost eight wickets for 46 runs to lose by 50 runs while chasing a modest 168-run target.

Younis, who scored 25 and 3 in the Test, paid the price for his failures as he not only dropped to second position but also conceded 30 valuable points.

His Sri Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, who scored 9 and 14, also faced the brunt of a poor Test, after being dropped two places to fifth position.

Sangakkara’s fall has benefitted Indian opener Gautam Gambhir and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of West Indies. Both the left-handers have moved up one place each to occupy third and fourth places respectively.

Thilan Samaraweera has dropped out of the top 20 after slipping two places to 22nd, Tillakaratne Dilshan had fallen two places to 27th, Kamran Akmal has dropped one position to 30th and Salman Butt has slipped to 52nd position after losing two places.

Among the Test bowlers, Pakistan pacer Umar Gul have dropped four places to 18th position while Sri Lanka spin wizard Ajantha Mendis slipped three places to 28th spot.

However, Galle Test’s surprise hero Sri Lankan left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who took 4-15 in the second innings, has jumped eight places to 48th position.

Pakistan left-arm pacer Mohammad Aamer, who had returned with a figure of 6-117, has entered the table in 60th position while Younus, who had figures of 2-23 and 2-27, has zoomed 29 places to 83rd spot.

Jacques Kallis continues to lead the Test all-rounders list with Mitchell Johnson of Australia in second and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori in third position.