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Younis tops the world after triple century
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Feb 26, 2009, 10:11

ICC Media Release:

Younus Khan is on top of the world after Karachi triple-century

Pakistan skipper jumps six places to overtake Chanderpaul at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings; Murali under pressure at the top of the bowlers’ list

A triple-century from Pakistan’s new captain Younus Khan has earned him six places and put him on top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career.

Replying to Sri Lanka’s huge total of 644 during the first Test in Karachi, Younus batted for nearly 13 hours, facing 568 balls and hitting 27 fours and four sixes for his 313. He became just the third Pakistan player in history to get past the 300-run mark in a single Test innings after Hanif Mohammad (337 v West Indies at Bridgetown in 1958) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (329 v New Zealand at Lahore in 2002).

The 31-year-old has just taken over the captaincy from Shoaib Malik and he could not have started his tenure in more positive fashion from a personal point of view even if the match resulted in a draw.

Younus was the only real mover in the top 20 of the rankings although Mahela Jayawardena’s double hundred in the same match means he stays in fourth position as Australia’s Michael Clarke drops two places to fifth position. Having been knocked off his number-one perch, West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul is now in second spot with Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka in third.

If Younus is going to stay long at the top he will most likely have to continue to score heavily because he has a very slender one-point lead at the top with every player in the top 10 with the exception of Gautam Gambhir of India currently in the middle of or about to start Test series. Gambhir’s opportunity will come when the Test series against New Zealand gets underway on 18 March.

Outside the top 20, Thilan Samaraweera of Sri Lanka celebrates his double hundred by moving up five places to 23rd position on the list while Kamran Akmal (up three places to 27th spot) and Shoaib Malik (up four places to 42nd) also made significant improvements.

It was tough going for the bowlers and this is reflected in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralidaran is still top of the heap but the gap between him and South Africa’s Dale Steyn has now been cut from 43 ratings points to just 17 after Murali took just one wicket in 65 overs bowled.

With Dale Steyn just starting a Test series against Australia, there is every chance the Protea could nudge in front of Murali before too long.

Sri Lanka’s other big-name spinner Ajantha Mendis also fared badly in the match as he finished with match figures of 59-14-157-1. As a result, he has slipped five places, out of the top 20 to joint-23rd position, and is now level with South Africa’s left-arm slow bowler Paul Harris.

Sri Lanka’s left-armer Chaminda Vaas has dropped two places after the Karachi Test and now sits in 10th position, just behind Australia’s Brett Lee. It wasn’t so bad for Danish Kaneria as the spinner took five wickets in the match and moved up one place to 13th position.

There is no change in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with South Africa’s Jacques Kallis still out in front, followed by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori in second and England’s Andrew Flintoff third.