Gambhir still No 1, Bhajji slips in Test rankings

Indian opener Gautam Gambhir continued to top the rankings chart among Test batsmen despite a poor show in the first Test against South Africa, while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh dropped out of top 10 among bowlers in the ICC list released on Wednesday.

Gambhir, who scored just 13 in the first Test in Nagpur, remained world's top batsman with 840 points, ahead of Sri Lankan duo of Mahela Jayawardene (836) and Kumar Sangakkara (835).

Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, who both scored centuries in Nagpur, are the other Indians to feature in the top 10 at sixth and ninth places respectively.

By virtue of their exploits in Nagpur, South African pair of Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla have made big upward movements in the latest batting chart.

Kallis, who scored his 34th Test century during the match, has returned to the top five by gaining four places to sit in fourth position ahead of his captain Graeme Smith, who slipped three places to fifth.

Amla, meanwhile, broke into the top 10 for the first time in his career with the help of his magnificent unbeaten 253 in the first innings, which set up South Africa's victory against India on Tuesday by an innings and six runs.

In the ICC Players' Rankings for Test bowlers, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is static at the sixth spot while Harbhajan, who took two wickets for 166 in Nagpur, dropped four places to find himself at 12th.

An unimpressive Ishant Sharma, who finished wicketless in the match, also slipped seven places to 22nd.

With match figures of 10 for 108 against India, South African speedster Dale Steyn has consolidated his No 1 Test bowler's spot, while his team-mate and left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who took four wickets in the game, moved up three rungs to the ninth spot.