Murali, Sanga gain top spots in ICC rankings
Chris Dhambarage reporting from Asgiriya
Sri Lanka's prolific run getter Kumar Sangakkara has emerged as the
number one batsman in the International Cricket Council rankings
following his heroics in the opening Test match against the touring
England team concluded at the Asgiriya International Stadium in Kandy on
Wednesday.
The stylish left hander produced a Man of the Math winning
performance as he compiled 93 in the first innings and a magnificent 152
in the second innings to help Sri Lanka win the match by a convincing
margin of 88 runs and to take a crucial one nil lead in the three match
series.
Sangakkara who was placed third in the ICC Player Rankings for Test
batsmen at the start of the match collected 938 points and successfully
overtook Australian captain Ricky Ponting (936) and South African all
rounder Jacques Kallis (935) into the second and third places
respectively.
With ace spinner Muttiah Muralitharan still continuing to occupy the
top position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers this is
probably the first time that two Sri Lankans are in front of both
categories at the same time.
Muralitharan who broke Australian spinner Shane Warne's World record
in the opening Test match against England is well ahead and occupies the
number one position with a tally of 910 points.
But it as been the amazing run of success' of Kumar Sangakkara that
has taken the game by storm during the last few months. The left hander
also established a new World record during the first Test at Asgiriya
when he became the first cricketer in the history of Test cricket to
make scores of over 150 runs in four successive test matches.
Sangakkara began his run feast during the recent home series against
Bangladesh where he hammered two unbeaten double hundreds in successive
matches in Colombo and in Kandy. In the tour of Australia he of course
missed the opening Test in Brisbane but struck form again to make a
trail blazing 192 runs in the second innings of the second Test at
Hobart following a contribution of 57 runs in the first innings.
The previous occasion of making scores of more than 150 runs in three
successive Test matches were jointly held by Australian Sir Don Bradmon,
Englishman Walter Hammond and Mudassar Nazar of Pakistan. But Sangakkara
went beyond that and managed to get pass the 150 run mark on four
successive Test matches.
In fact Sangakkara would have had three successive double centuries
to his credit if not for a controversial decision given by the South
African umpire Rudi Koertzen when he was batting on 192 in the second
Test match against Australia at Hobart.
Sangakkara said that he has been working hard at the nets and has a
better knowledge of the game and what to do at practices. He added that
mentally he has got really tough while playing under different
conditions and has stuck to his basics while leaving the bat to do the
rest.
Sangakkara who became the ninth batsman to score a century against
all Test playing nations admitted that ever since he relinquished the
wicket keeping duties batting has looked much easier in the middle and
everything seem to be falling into place right now.
He also drew level with the former captain Marvan Atapattu for the
most number of centuries for Sri Lanka with his 16th hundred during the
opening Test match.
Sangakkara is now just four centuries away from overtaking Aravinda
de Silva as the number one batsman to have scored the most number of
hundreds for his country. In addition he is now just 79 runs away from
becoming only the second batsman to complete one thousand runs for 2007
and with two more Test matches against England in Colombo and Galle
coming up Sangakkara is set for more glory.
At present he has a tally of 921 runs from just five Test matches and
seven innings with a staggering average of 184.40 including four
centuries and two fifties.
The ICC Test Player Rankings for batsmen (Top 10):
1. K.C. Sangakkara Sri Lanka 938
2. R.T. Ponting Australia 936
3. J.H. Kallis South Africa 935
4 Mohammad Yousuf Pakistan 885
5. M.E.K. Hussey Australia 874
6. K.P. Pietersen England 848
7. Younis Khan Pakistan 816
8. M.L. Hayden Australia 803
9. S. Chanderpaul West Indies 762
10. M.J. Clarke Australia 751
The ICC Test Player Rankings for bowlers (Top 10):
1. M. Muralidaran Sri Lanka 910
2. M. Ntini South Africa 808
3. D.W. Steyn South Africa 775
4. S.R. Clark Australia 769
5. M.J. Hoggard England 733
6. B. Lee Australia 726
7. S.E. Bond New Zealand 724
7. A. Kumble India 724
9. S.M. Pollock South Africa 701
9. Shoaib Akhtar Pakistan 701 |
