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Inzamam, Yousuf in top five

July 18, 2006 17:14 IST

Pakistan now has two players in the top five of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen following its drawn encounter with England at Lord's.

Captain Inzamam-ul Haq climbed one place to third in the list after twin half-centuries and was joined in the top five by Mohammad Yousuf, who scored 202, his second successive Test double hundred against England.

Yousuf is up two spots to fifth place and has his best-ever ranking and his highest tally of rating points.

Completing a trio of Pakistan batsmen in the top 10 is Younis Khan, who missed the Lord's Test through injury.  He lies seventh in the table.

The only players Inzamam now trails in the rankings are his opposite numbers Ricky Ponting of Australia and India's Rahul Dravid.

England, by contrast, has just one batsman in that top 10, Kevin Pietersen in 10th position, but below him, several of his teammates are making positive moves.

Andrew Strauss's ninth Test hundred has seen him rise two places to 12th (overtaking teammate Marcus Trescothick in the process) while Paul Collingwood's Test-best 186 has boosted him up to joint 34th position (with Pakistan's Shahid Afridi), a climb of 16 places.

Ian Bell and Alastair Cook, two more hundred-makers from the Lord's Test are up to joint 42nd (along with Thilan Samaraweera of Sri Lanka) and 51st place respectively, and the duo -- along with Collingwood -- have career-best ratings.

The LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers have seen no changes in the top 20 with England's Matthew Hoggard still the highest-placed player from either side.

The swing and seam bowler remains in fifth spot, ahead of injured teammate Andrew Flintoff in sixth (Flintoff is joint 25th in the batting table, along with Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa) and another injured player, Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, in seventh position.

Further down the list, Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria is holding firm in 13th place while Stephen Harmison, the England fast bowler, remains 17th.

Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran remains top of the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, clear of South Africa fast bowler Makhaya Ntini.

In the LG ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, Jacques Kallis of South Africa still leads from Flintoff.

Pakistan's Abdul Razzaq has moved up to 11th place in that list, ahead of teammate Shahid Afridi (12th).

The remaining Tests in the England -- Pakistan series are as follows:

July 27-31: Second Test, Old Trafford, Manchester

August 4-8: Third Test, Headingley, Leeds

August 17-21: Fourth Test, The Oval, London

The two sides are battling for second place in the LG ICC Test Championship table with Pakistan currently holding that spot.

The rankings:

Test Championship: 1. Australia (130), 2. Pakistan (120), 3. England (113), 4. India (111), 5. Sri Lanka (99), 6. South Africa (98), 7. New Zealand (92), 8. West Indies (72), 9. Zimbabwe (28), 10. Bangladesh (2).

Top 10 batsmen: 1.Ricky Ponting (Aus) 931, 2.Rahul Dravid (Ind) 882, 3. Inzamam-ul Haq (Pak) 846, 4.Jacques Kallis (SA) 832, 5. Mohammad Yousuf (Pak) 828, 6.Matthew Hayden (Aus) 808, 7.Younis Khan (Pak) 788, 8. Mike Hussey (Aus), 9.Brian Lara (WI) 732, 10.Kevin Pietersen (Eng) 724.

Top 10 bowlers: 1.Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 901, 2.Makhaya Ntini (SA) 841, 3.Shane Warne (Aus) 813, 4.Glenn McGrath (Aus) 811, 5.Matthew Hoggard (Eng) 776, 6.Andrew Flintoff (Eng) 759, 7.Shoaib Akhtar (Pak) 743, 8.Anil Kumble (Ind) 736, 9. Shane Bond (NZ) 720, 10.Chaminda Vaas (SL) 700.

Top five all-rounders: 1.Jacques Kallis (SA) 486, 2.Andrew Flintoff (Eng) 454, 3.Shaun Pollock (SA) 302, 4.Daniel Vettori (NZ) 290, 5.Chaminda Vaas (SL) 271

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