India legend Sachin Tendulkar has ended his record-breaking 200-Test career by finishing in the top 20 of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, which were released on Sunday.
Tendulkar has finished in 18th position, after jumping five places following his knock of 74 in his final innings in the Mumbai Test. He had entered the series in 24th, which was his lowest since 1992.
Progress over the years in rankings
Tendulkar had made his Test debut against Pakistan in November 1989, after which he was ranked 97th with a total of 111 ratings points. He first made his way into the world’s top 50 in February 1990 after an innings of 88 against New Zealand at Napier.
His unbeaten 148 against Australia at Sydney in January 1992 had helped him move to 25th position. Later in the year, he made 111 against South Africa at Johannesburg to make his first appearance inside the top 20. His stars continued to rise and during the home series against England in early 1993, he reached the top 10.
With innings of 34 and 85 against the West Indies in Mumbai in November 1994, Tendulkar went top of the charts for the first time, overtaking Brian Lara.
Tendulkar held the position for only three months before Jimmy Adams, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Steve Waugh and Brian Lara again took over.
However, after scoring an unbeaten 155 in Sydney in March 1998, Tendulkar regained the number-one ranking from Steve Waugh. He was on top for most of 1998 before Waugh and Lara reclaimed the top spots.
It was in May 2000 when Tendulkar went top again, edging ahead of Lara and he stayed there for more than a year, before Andy Flower sneaked ahead.
A flurry of runs, culminating in 176 against Flower’s Zimbabwe in Nagpur in early 2002, which pushed him up to his career-best 898 points – put him top again.
Adam Gilchrist leapfrogged him in September 2002, and it would take eight years for Tendulkar to regain the top spot after an innings of 214 and 53 not out against Australia in Bengaluru.
He clung onto top spot for the first half of 2011, albeit jointly with Jacques Kallis
However, a disappointing tour of England saw him drop out of the number-one place. He spent a total of 139 Tests (fourth most) and 1157 days (12th most) as the top-ranked batsman in Test cricket.
The batting chart continues to be headed by AB de Villiers of South Africa, with teammate Hashim Amla in second place and West Indies’ Shivnarine Chanderpaul in third place
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 16 November, after the Mumbai Test)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) AB de Villiers SA 909! 51.44 909 v Pak at Dubai 2013
2 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 898 52.32 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 ( – ) S.Chanderpaul WI 875 51.71 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 ( – ) K Sangakkara SL 866 56.98 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
5 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 853 52.08 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
6 (+2) C Pujara Ind 801*! 65.50 801 v WI at Mumbai 2013
7 (-1) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 783! 46.03 783 v SA at Dubai 2013
8 (-1) Graeme Smith SA 771 49.36 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
9 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 769 51.17 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
10 ( – ) Ian Bell Eng 748 46.66 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
11 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 737 47.85 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
12 ( – ) Ross Taylor NZ 721 42.81 785 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2012
13 ( – ) Kevin Pietersen Eng 706 48.38 909 v WI at Headingley 2007
14 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA 704 55.44 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
15 ( – ) Jonathan Trott Eng 698 47.39 856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
16 (+1) Asad Shafiq Pak 660* 39.11 680 v SA at Cape Town 2013
17 (+1) Matt Prior Eng 647 42.36 745 v NZ at Auckland 2013
18= (+1) M Jayawardena SL 639 49.56 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
(+5) Sachin Tendulkar Ind 639 53.78 898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
20 (-4) Marlon Samuels WI 638 36.74 672 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
21 (+4) Virat Kohli Ind 634* 41.16 648 v Aus at Mohali 2013
22 (-3) MS Dhoni Ind 624 39.39 662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
23 (-1) Chris Gayle WI 619 42.01 755 v SL at Galle 2010
25 (-4) Darren Bravo WI 611 42.65 709 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
42 (+2) Murali Vijay Ind 533*! 38.20 533 v WI at Mumbai 2013
45 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 518*! 40.52 518 v WI at Mumbai 2013
53 (+4) Kieran Powell WI 463* 30.32 468 v Ban at Mirpur 2012
58 (+5) Rohit Sharma Ind 450*! 288.00 450 v WI at Mumbai 2013
61 (+6) Denesh Ramdin WI 439! 26.53 439 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
69 (-5) Darren Sammy WI 393 21.23 452 v Zim at Bridgetown 2013
77 (-8) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 375* 81.00 420 v Aus at Mohali 2013
84 (-4) N Deonarine WI 349* 27.68 401 v Aus at Port-of-Spain 2012
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating
1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 903 22.65 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 899* 17.50 901 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 831 29.52 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
4 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 824 26.54 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
5 (+1) R Ashwin Ind 808! 27.47 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
6 (-1) Ryan Harris Aus 782*! 22.26 782 v Eng at The Oval 2013
7= ( – ) Graeme Swann Eng 760 28.55 858 v Pak at Lord’s 2010
( – ) Peter Siddle Aus 760 29.11 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
9 (+4) Pragyan Ojha Ind 756 30.26 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
10 (-1) James Anderson Eng 741 30.10 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
11 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 740 30.58 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
12 (-1) Abdur Rehman Pak 703* 27.55 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
13 (-1) Morne Morkel SA 700 30.23 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 ( – ) Kemar Roach WI 668* 27.71 712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
15 ( – ) Ben Hilfenhaus Aus 659* 28.50 757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
16 (+1) S Shillingford WI 635*! 31.27 635 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
17 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 614 32.60 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
18 ( – ) Zaheer Khan Ind 588 32.35 752 v SA at Durban 2010
19 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 585* 34.33 621 v Eng at Lord’s 2013
20 ( – ) Steven Finn Eng 580* 29.40 624 v NZ at Headingley 2013
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave Econ HS Rating
33 (-2) Darren Sammy WI 485* 35.66 568 v Aus at Bridgetown 2012
45 (+1) N Deonarine WI 391*! 27.42 391 v Ind at Mumbai 2013
47 (+6) M Shami Ind 376*! 16.54 376 v WI at Mumbai 2013
58 (-4) Tino Best WI 311* 39.20 419 v Ban at Khulna 2012
64 (-16) Shannon Gabriel WI 289* 23.18 360 v Zim at Dominica 2013
74 ( – ) Chris Gayle WI 256* 42.00 413 v Eng at Chester-le-St 2007
77 (-2) Marlon Samuels WI 232* 52.14 250 v Zim at Dominica 2013
82 (+5) B Kumar Ind 211*! 37.88 211 v WI at Mumbai 2013
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) R Ashwin Ind 419*/ ! 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
2 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 362 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA 332 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
4 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 288 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 283*/* 312 v Pak at Centurion 2013