Top ranked players looking to consolidate
Chris DHAMBARAGE
Some of the World’s top ranked players will be hoping to consolidate
their position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Player
Rankings when the three test series between Sri Lanka and India gets
underway at the SSC grounds in Maitland Place today.
This series will be of great significance considering the fact that
the World’s top batsman Kumar Sangakkara and the best bowler Muttiah
Muralitharan will be looking to extend their dominance while India’s
Sachin Tendulkar is only 172 runs away from overcoming Brian Lara’s
aggregate of 11,953 runs.
Stylish left hander Sangakkara has been able to hold on to the number
one slot ever since his heroics against England last year where he
reached a career best 938 points in the ICC rankings.
His form has been superbly consistent and his arrival into the test
scene at the age of 22 has helped the country to solve the dilemma of
the number three batsman.
Despite the exhausting nature of his dual responsibilities,
Sangakkara with over six thousand runs to his credit in test cricket is
considered one of the World’s best wicket keeper batsman and a highly
talented sharp eyed strategist.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan will be hoping
to further increase his lead in the ICC Player rankings for the best
bowler with another pleasing performance. Muralitharan has successfully
held on to the number one position for the past one year having reached
a career best 920 points during the series in Bangladesh in July, 2007.
Muralitharan of course has now dropped into 897 points but still he
has a clear lead over his nearest rival South African Dale Styn who is
placed second with a rating of 867 points.
The 36 year old is the highest wicket taker in test cricket having
surpassed Shane Warne’s record of 708 wickets against England in
December last year on his home grounds at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy.
Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardena will also be keen to improve on
his rating in the ICC Player rankings for best batsman. The elegant
right hander is placed ninth in the overall rankings and could end up in
a better position through some good contributions with the bat.
Incidentally this series is quite a significant one for Jayawardena
who made his test debut against India at the R. Premadasa Stadium way
back in August 1997 the same match in which Sri Lanka created history by
piling up a mammoth total of 952 runs for the loss of six wickets
surpassing England’s 903 for 7 at the Oval in 1938.
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The ICC top 10 batsmen
(India and Sri Lanka only)
PLAYER RATING
(1) Kumar Sangakkara 893
(2) Mahela Jayawardena 810
(3) Sachin Tendulkar 704
(4) Rahul Dravid 701
(5) Virender Sehwag 681
(6) Sourav Ganguly 674
(7) V. V. S. Laxman 672
(8) Tillekeratne Dilshan 541
(9) Thilan Samaraweera 484
(10) Michael van Dort 433
The ICC top 10 bowlers
(India and Sri Lanka only)
PLAYER RATING
(1) Muttiah Muralitharan 897
(2) Chaminda Vaas 709
(3) Anil Kumble 708
(4) Harbhajan Singh 608
(5) Dilhara Fernando 504
(6) Lasith Malinga 490
(7) R. P. Singh 416
(8) M. M. Patel 311
(9) Virender Sehwag 304
(10) Ishant Sharma 281
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