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Despite shock loss in Galle Test, India players see improvement in rankings

August 16, 2015 15:42 IST

Ashwin moves into top-10, Dhawan in career-high 32nd spot in the latest ICC Test rankings

India's Ravichandran Ashwin appeals for the wicket of Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal during the first Test in Galle

India's Ravichandran Ashwin appeals for the wicket of Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal during the first Test in Galle. Photoraph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was the lone Indian in the top-10 list in the ICC Test player rankings for bowlers, while India opener Shikhar Dhawan jumped 15 places for a career-high 32nd in the batting chart following their exploits in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle.

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- Scorecard

While Dhawan was ranked 32nd after his century against Sri Lanka, Test captain Virat Kohli, who also scored 110 in the first innings, was static to be the best-placed Indian batsman at number 10.

Spinner Ashwin, who had a 10-wicket haul in a losing cause, jumped three places to be ninth in the bowling list.

He also climbed a spot to second in the all-rounders’ list.

Courtesy his 134, Dhawan has become only the third Indian opening batsman -- after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid -- to score Test centuries in consecutive innings overseas.

 Dinesh Chandimal

Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal plays a sweep shot on Day 3 the first Test against India, in Galle, on Friday. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

There was good news for several Sri Lanka players following their 63-run victory over India in the first Test, with career high gains for Dinesh Chandimal and Tharindu Kaushal.

Skipper Angelo Mathews overtook his team-mate Kumar Sangakarra and, in the process, moved up one place to fifth in the Test batsmen list after scores of 64 and 39.

Sangakarra, who will make his final appearance for Sri Lanka in the second Test which starts in Colombo on Thursday, now lays nine points behind Mathews on 851 points.

The highest mover in the batting rankings was wicket-keeper Chandimal who put in a man-of-the-match performance by scoring 59 and 162 not out to vault 22 places to a career-high 23rd.

Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath (right) celebrates after taking the wicket of India's Harbhajan Singh

Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath (right) celebrates after taking the wicket of India's Harbhajan Singh. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters

As a result of some fine performances with the ball from both sides, there was also movement in the top 10 of the player rankings for Test bowlers.

Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has moved up two places to sixth after claiming match figures of seven for 115 runs, his 22nd five-wicket haul in Test cricket, and is now on 771 points, a point clear of South Africa's Vernon Philander.

Herath is now in third place in the all-time wicket-taker list for left-arm spinners on 270 wickets, four clear of Bishan Singh Bedi, with England's Derek Underwood (297 wickets) in second place and New Zealand great Daniel Vettori (362) leading the list.

Meanwhile, Ashwin has climbed three places to ninth after claiming match figures of 10 for 160, while there were also notable career-high gains for Sri Lanka duo Kaushal (up 21 places to 60th) and Mathews (up three to 73rd).

The top of the all-rounder rankings remain unchanged with Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan leading the way on 384 points. Ashwin has risen one place to second ahead of Philander, and is now 45 points behind Shakib.