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India's master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has dropped to his lowest ranking in 15 years in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen after a disappointing series against Sri Lanka which concluded in Colombo on Monday.
Tendulkar, who started the series in the 13th position, finished in 23rd place after scoring 95 runs at 15.83. He drops six places after scores of six and 14 in the third and final Test which Sri Lanka won by eight wickets to clinch the series 2-1.
It is his lowest ranking since late 1992 after spending over 15 years in the top 20 apart from a very brief spell at the end of 2006.
Tendulkar, who is just 76 runs short of becoming the leading run-getter in Test cricket history, last occupied the top batting position six years ago after the 2002 Headingley Test in England.
Tendulkar’s drop is the only bad news for India batting as others have made good upward progress.
Virender Sehwag has become the highest-ranked Indian batsman after returning to the top 10 for the first time since March 2006. Sehwag, who scored an impressive 344 runs in the series, has lifted one place to 10th with Pakistan's Younus Khan firmly within his sights.
VVS Laxman, who scored 25 and 61 not out in the series decider, has climbed three places to 15th position while Rahul Dravid shares 16th place with England’s Alastair Cook. Dravid improves his position by two places after scores of 10 and 68 while Cook jumps four places following his contribution of 39 and 67 in The Oval Test.
Saurav Ganguly has improved his ranking by one place and now sits in 25th position while opener Gautam Gambhir, who was the second leading run-getter for his side with 310 runs, is in 37th place after jumping 12 places.
For Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara has just missed out on reclaiming the top slot from the West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul. The 30-year-old from Matale, who dropped to fifth after the second Test in Galle, has jumped to second position after hitting a superlative 144 in Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 396.
However, a knock of just four in the second innings, when Sri Lanka were chasing 123 for victory, denied him the top place.
