DUBAI: Virender Sehwag's match-winning knocks in the second Test against Sri Lanka have propelled the swashbuckling opener to 11th in the ICC Rankings, making him the highest-placed Indian batsman in the latest list issued on Monday.
Sehwag's rise comes on the back of scores of 201 and 50 in the game, which India won to level the three-match series 1-1 with the third match scheduled from August 8 in Colombo.
In the bowling charts, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh rose seven spots to 11th after taking 10-153, his fifth 10-wicket haul in the longer version of the game and his second against Sri Lanka.
Below Sehwag and inside the top-20 of batting charts are Sachin Tendulkar (17th) and Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman (joint 18th).
Sourav Ganguly is 26th but another big climber is Gautam Gambhir, up 28 spots to 49th in the listing.
Anil Kumble (ninth) remains India's highest-ranked bowler but Zaheer Khan, in 18th, makes it a hat-trick in the top 20 for India.
Further down the ladder are the absent trio of Irfan Pathan (26th), S Sreesanth (33rd) and RP Singh (42nd) but Ishant Sharma has nudged into the top 50, up six places to 48th.
For Sri Lanka, Kumar Sangakkara, who started the series at the top of the batting table, is now fifth. He dropped one place after the first match at the Sinhalese Sports Club and has slipped a further three places after the match in Galle.
But the left-hander remains his side's top-ranked batsman but Mahela Jayawardena is now just one spot below him.
The batting list is still headed by the West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul, although he is only narrowly clear of the Australia duo of Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting and Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan.
A consolation for Sri Lanka is that it still possesses the player at the top of the bowling ladder, spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, while mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis is now 39th in the table after just two Tests, having returned match figures of 10-209 in Galle.
