New Delhi, February 20: Virender Sehwag, the Indian opener, has taken the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings after hitting successive centuries against South Africa.
With a rapid 165 in the Kolkata Test, which India won to stay top of the ICC rankings for teams, and 109 in Nagpur before that, Sehwag has displaced good friend and fellow Test opener Gautam Gambhir.
Sehwag sits top of the pile with 863 points, while Gambhir has dropped to fifth position with 824. He had tremendous success in 2009 – an average of 108.98 in six Tests – and in the four Tests he has played this year, Sehwag already has two centuries. He was also the recipient of the prize for best Test innings, for the second year running, for the ESPNcricinfo Awards where his audacious 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai was chosen over four other nominations shortlisted for the award.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla, whose three centuries in three innings against India earned him two Man-of-the-Match awards and the Man-of-the-Series accolade, has leapfrogged to second place in the rankings with 842 points.
Sachin Tendulkar, who also scored two centuries in the two-Test series with South Africa, occupies sixth place with 805 points.
——–Agencies