Younus regains top spot in Test batting

Dubai, May 10 (ANI): Younus Khan regains number-one position after West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul lost his number-one position in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after his side's 10-wicket defeat to England at Lord's.

The Guyanese left-hander, who won the player of the year for 2008 at the LG ICC Awards and has been arguably the West Indies' best batsman since the retirement of Brian Lara, made just four runs in the match and, as a result, has fallen back to second position, level with Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka.

Pakistan's Younus Khan has therefore moved back on top of the rankings, a position he briefly held earlier this year thanks to the triple-century he scored in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Lahore in late February.

The 31-year-old is averaging 51.80 through his 60-match Test career so far and the 313 he scored in that match was the 17th-highest Test score in the history of the game.

Chanderpaul has an immediate chance to make amends, however, with the second and final Test in the series getting underway on Thursday at Chester-le-Street, a ground he knows well having played for Durham in the English County Championship.

Another batsman who has slipped in the rankings is England's Kevin Pietersen, whose first-ball duck in the first innings at Lord's has ensured he drops three places in the latest rankings and now sits in ninth position.

Also in the top 20, Ramnaresh Sarwan of the West Indies and England captain Andrew Strauss each lose one place to 14th and 16th positions respectively, with Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman benefiting.Outside the top 20, Ravi Bopara was the big mover, gaining 45 places to 72nd position after scoring his second Test century for England while Graeme Swann also took a 44-place leap following his unbeaten 63 at Lord's and he now occupies 122nd position in the rankings.

Man of the match Swann has also made significant gains in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers as his match haul of 22-6-55-6 helped his side to victory and also nudged him up eight places on the ladder.

Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka still leads the bowling chart followed by Dale Steyn of South Africa and Australia's Mitchell Johnson. (ANI)