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.

Gautam Gambhir is country’s highest ranked Test batsman at number three and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, at sixth, is the highest placed Indian bowler in the latest ICC rankings issued on Thursday.

Gambhir, the Delhi left-hander with 847 rating points, is the only Indian to figure in the top 10 batsmen’s chart, followed by Sachin Tendulkar (13th), VVS Laxman (15th) and Virender Sehwag (20th).

In the bowlers’ chart, Harbhajan is the lone Indian in top 10, followed by Zaheer Khan (11th) and Ishant Sharma (20th).

In the team ranking, India (117 points) are placed third behind top ranked Australia (128) and South Africa (119).

Meanwhile Pakistan, currently sixth, will go into their three-Test series against Sri Lanka starting at Galle on Saturday targetting the fourth place, replacing the Lankans.

A 1-0 or 2-1 series win for Younus Khan’s side will be enough to put it on 105 ratings points alongside Sri Lanka but ahead of Kumar Sangakkara’s side when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

Personally, Younus, currently the number one batsman in this format, will be aiming to become the 25th batsman in history to reach the 900-point mark.

The 31-year-old right-handed batsman is just 20 points short of becoming the second Pakistan batsman after Mohammad Yousuf to achieve the rare distinction.

Static at ninth spot, opener Gautam Gambhir remains the only Indian in the top 10 list of Test batsmen in the ICC rankings issued on Friday. 

Gambhir, who has been in fine form this season, was ninth with 772 rating points, while his opening partner Virender Sehwag was also static at the 11th spot.

Their India team-mates Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman lost two places each and share the 13th spot in the ICC batsmen’s list still headed by West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

In the bowlers’ chart headed by Sri Lankan Muttiah Murlitharan, Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh occupy the ninth spot with 686 rating points and is three rungs above his India team-mate Zaheer Khan who also remained unchanged at 12th with 631 rating points.

In the Test Championships, India are in third place on 118 rating points, behind South Africa (121) and Australia (126).

Meanwhile, Pakistan returns to the Test scene after a gap of 14 months and they have the chance to leapfrog Sri Lanka and England into fourth place if they win both the home Tests against Sri Lanka starting from Saturday.

A 2-0 win will lift Pakistan to 107 ratings points and will drop Mahela Jayawardene’s side to 104 points.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Tuesday vowed that his inexperienced side would do all it can to hang on to their number one spot when they take on South Africa in the Test series, starting on February 26.

A series win for the Proteas in the three-match series will topple Australia from the top spot for the first time in almost six years but Ponting warned the hosts to expect a fight to the finish to maintain their number one status.

In case of a draw or a win of the series by Australia, Ponting’s side will retain the numero uno status.

“Anyone who plays an individual or team sport wants to be recognised as being the best. It’s what playing international sport is all about.

“We’ve been good enough over a long period of time to hang on to this trophy, we know what it takes to hang on to it and we know what it will take over the next few weeks to hang on to it again,” Ponting, holding the ICC Test Championship mace, said at a press conference after reaching here from Sydney with his squad.

“(Being number one) does mean a lot to us, it’s something we’ve never taken for granted and it’s not meant we’ve haven’t worked as hard as any other team. What’s made us stand out is that while we’ve been recognised as number one we’ve tried to train as if we’re number two. We’ll continue to try to do that here,” he added.

Australia arrived in South Africa off the back of a first home Test series loss in 16 years, the 1-2 defeat inflicted upon them by South Africa, but Ponting said they have faced a similar situation after losing the Ashes in 2005.

“I look on it a bit like the 2005 Ashes (against England) when we lost there for the first time in a long time. From there we went back to Australia, regrouped and worked hard as a team.

“It meant England came to Australia as favourites, all the expectation and pressure was on them and they didn’t live up to it. We’ll get stuck into work, make sure we’re in the best possible shape for the first game and see where we go from there,” he added.

Asked whether his side were going into the series as underdogs, Ponting said, “I had it told to me that we were going away as underdogs. The expectation in South Africa is high and so it should be as they played some excellent cricket in Australia a few weeks ago. That’s what makes this series so big and so enjoyable for us,” he said.

The Australian team will play a three-day warm-up match at Potchefstroom before the first Test on February 26.

The other two Tests will be played in Durban (March 6-10) and Cape Town (March 19-23).

The Test Championship mace has been in Australia’s hands for all but five months (January-May 2003, when South Africa topped the table) since it was inaugurated in May 2001.

After displacing Australia from the top spot in One-day rankings, South Africa coach Micky Arthur is now getting ready for a double as he attempts to snatch the number one position in Tests from Ricky Ponting’s men when they clash at home from February 26.

Australia will visit South Africa for three Tests, two Twenty20 matches and five One-dayers and at stake is the number elite position in Test rankings.

Despite losing the Test series at home to South Africa, Australia, at 126 points, still maintain a five-point slender lead at the top and Arthur believes his team has the depth in batting and bowling to overcome the visitors.

“The recent tour to Australia has demonstrated the depth that we have developed in both our batting and bowling departments and this augurs well for the Castle Test squad going forward into another tough series against Australia,” said Arthur, who is looking for an encore after completing Australia’s humiliation in both Tests and ODIs at their own backyard.

And with the number one spot in Tests up for grabs, Arthur feels it will make his players more charged up.

“There is also the No. 1 ICC Test ranking at stake which will make the upcoming series even more special for players and supporters,” he said.

South Africa skipper Graeme Smith, who missed the ODI series due to injury, said their recent success will give them a slight edge over Australia in the home series.

“We are all looking forward to getting back into the five-day game and the particular challenges that it poses. It will also be wonderful to be playing on our own grounds again in front of our own supporters,” he said.

Cricket South Africa selection committee, who kept faith in the same squad that did duty in the Test series in Australia, admitted it was a tough call to leave out Ashwell Prince from the team.

“It was a difficult decision,” said selection committee convener Mike Procter.

“We are in the fortunate position of having seven world-class batsmen competing for six positions. It is a very healthy position for South African cricket. Ashwell is understandably bitterly disappointed but he appreciates that he has not had the opportunity to play much cricket since his injury,” he said.

The selectors also decided to retain fast bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe for the Test series despite the fact that he got limited opportunity Down Under.

“Tsotsobe performed very impressively from limited opportunities in Australia and he gives us extra bowling variety and depth,” said Procter.

Wicket-keeper batsman Mark Boucher, who missed the last two ODIs against Australia after suffering a broken toe, was retained in the squad as CSA felt he would recover in time for the Test series.

“We are monitoring Mark Boucher’s recovery from injury and we are confident that he will be fit to play by the time the series starts,” said Procter.

The squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

The Indian spin-pace duo of Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan slipped a slot each to be placed ninth and 13th respectively in the latest ICC rankings for Test bowlers.

Harbhajan missed the ODI series against Sri Lanka as he is recuperating from a hamstring injury. Among the Indian batsmen Gautam Gambhir continues to be the highest-ranked at the 10th spot.

Gambhir’s opening partner Virender Sehwag was the next best Indian at 12th while Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman retained their joint 16th place.

West Indies’ paceman Jerome Taylor has become the highest-ranked Test bowler from his country since the retirement of Courtney Walsh in 2001 following his impressive performance against England in the first Test.

The 24-year-old had the match figures of 29-8-85-8, including 5-11 in the second innings as England was dismissed for 51 in 33.2 overs, zooming him up to sixth spot from 17th .

The bowling list is still led by Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan.