Ashwin achieves career-best ranking, Sachin out of top 10

Dubai: Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin`s match haul of 12 for 85 against New Zealand in the first Test in Hyderabad has helped him vault 19 places to a career-best 25th position in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers.

Ashwin`s spells of six for 31 and six for 54 led his side to an innings and 115 runs victory, and also fetched him the player of the match award. The win also gave India a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series. Ashwin backed up his bowling performance with a handy knock of 37 in India`s total of 438. The show with the bat has helped Ashwin move up by three places to 78th in the rankings for Test batsmen, while the combined performance with the bat and the ball has given him a career-high 12th position (up by 14 places) in the Test all-rounders standings. Ashwin`s team-mate, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who ended with a match haul of six for 92, has also jumped six places to 15th spot, which is also his career best ranking. Zaheer Khan, who remained wicketless in the match, has dropped two places to 14th while his pace partner Umesh Yadav has moved up two places to 47th. For New Zealand, off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who finished with figures of four for 100, has jumped seven places to 52nd. The list is still headed by South African speedster Dale Steyn, with teammate Vernon Philander and Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan in second and third positions, respectively. Meanwhile, the only centurion in the Hyderabad Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, has re-entered the batsmen rankings in 58th position. The India batsmen to make upward movements are Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 40th position (up by three) and Virat Kohli in 49th spot (up by two). Sachin Tendulkar has dropped out of the top 10 and is now in 11th place while Suresh Raina has slipped seven places to 80th. Sri Lanka`s Kumar Sangakarra remains the top-ranked batsman, followed by South Africa`s Hashim Amla and West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul in second and third positions, respectively. The rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Bangladesh`s Shakib Al Hasan with South Africa`s Jacques Kallis in second spot. IANS