Gambhir is No. 1 Test batsman by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:

G Gambhir

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DateLine: 16th July 2009

 

Gautam Gambhir has replaced Pakistan's Mohammad Yousuf to become the number one batsman in the latest ICC Test Player rankings.

 

Incidentally, Gambhir reached the top when the ODI batting chart is also led by an Indian, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

 

Yousuf, who had returned to the batting table last week in number one position after scoring a century in the first Test at Galle, flopped in the second Test to drop to fifth position.

 

Accordingly, in the rankings released today, Gambhir became the sixth India batsman to lead the batting table in this version of the game.

 

The 27-year-old left-handed opener is the first Indian batsman after former captain Rahul Dravid to top the batting chart. Dravid had briefly become the number one batsman after hitting centuries in each innings (110 and 135) of the Kolkata Test against Pakistan in March 2005. Dravid had first achieved the top batting ranking in January 1999 and has been number-one for 36 Tests between 1999 and 2005.

 

Sachin Tendulkar is the other Indian batsman in the last 15 years to has topped the batting chart. The champion batsman first led the table in November 1994, while last time he occupied the number-one position was in August 2002 after the Leeds Test against England. Overall, Tendulkar has been the number-one batsman for 125 Tests between 1994 and 2002.

 

The other India batsmen to have achieved number-one positions in their careers are Gundappa Viswanath (seven matches in 1975), Sunil Gavaskar (46 matches between 1978-80) and Dilip Vengsarkar (17 matches between 1987-88).

 

Pakistan skipper Younis Khan retained his second position in the Test batting rankings but fell nine points behind Gambhir who, without hitting a ball, has gone ahead of both the Pakistan batsmen for the first time in his 25-Test career. The left-hander has scored 2,271 runs at an average of over 54.