ICC rankings: Tendulkar, Zaheer return to top 10

India's iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar and fast bowler Zaheer Khan returned to the top 10 of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship after the two-Test series against Bangladesh in Mirpur on Wednesday.

Tendulkar, who started the second Test in 13th position, jumped four places to ninth after hitting his 45th career century. He scored a well-constructed 143 to set the platform for India's 10-wicket victory.\

Tendulkar had entered the series in 14th spot but gained six places as he also scored 105 not out and 16 in the first Test in Chittagong. This is the first time since December 2005 that Tendulkar returned to the top 10, while the last time he headed the batting table was in August 2002 after the Leeds Test against England.

Besides Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid also moved up the order.

Dravid, who scored 111 before retiring hurt, jumped four places to occupy 15th position.

However, VVS Laxman  lost ground and dropped four places to 19th spot after missing out on the second Test due to injury. A player loses one per cent of his rating for every Test he misses.

While top-ranked Gautam Gambhir extended his advantage over South Africa's Graeme Smith and Virender Sehwag consolidated his sixth position, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal is the other batsman to make an upward movement in the latest rankings that were released on Tuesday.

Tamim scored 0 and 151 in Mirpur and vaulted 13 places to share 42nd spot with New Zealand's Brendon McCullum.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Zaheer Khan became India's highest-ranked bowler in sixth position.

Zaheer jumped five places after recording his maiden 10-wicket haul in the match. He finished with figures of 10-149 to win the man-of-the-match award.

Harbhajan Singh, however, slipped two places to eighth position after claiming just two wickets.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan slipped one place to fifth.

Meanwhile, India earned one rating point for its 2-0 win over Bangladesh, which puts it on 125 rating points.

Mahendra Singh's Dhoni's side now leads second-ranked South Africa by five ratings points.

This sets up an enthralling two-Test series between the two top-ranked teams, starting in Nagpur from February 6, with India trying to defend its position at the top of the table while South Africa aiming to regain the spot it conceded on December 6.

To regain the top spot, South Africa needs to win the series by 1-0 or better. However, the Proteas will slip behind Australia in third position if India wins both the Tests.