INDIA'S master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has dropped to his lowest ranking in 15 years in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen after a disappointing series against Sri Lanka.

======STOP SUMMARY=====

Tendulkar, starting the series in 13th position, finished in 23rd place after scoring 95 runs at 15.83. He dropped six places after scores of six and 14 in the third and final Test in Colombo, which Sri Lanka won by eight wickets to clinch the series 2-1.

This is his lowest ranking since late 1992 after spending over 15 years in the top 20 apart from a very brief spell at the end of 2006. Tendulkar, now only 76 runs short of becoming the leading run-getter in Test cricket history, last occupied the top batting position six years ago after the 2002 Headingley Test in England.

Tendulkar’s drop is the only bad news for India batting as others have made good upward progress. Virender Sehwag has become the highest-ranked India’s batsman after returning to the top 10 for the first time since March 2006. Sehwag, who scored an impressive 344 runs in the series, has risen one place to 10th with Pakistan’s Younis Khan firmly within his sights.

Like Tendulkar, South Africa’s most accomplished batsman Jacques Kallis has also paid the price for a run of bad form by dropping out of the top 10 for the first time since March 2003. He scored 104 runs at 14.85, including scores of two and nine at The Oval, and has dropped three places to 11th. He briefly held the top batting slot in 2005.

While captain Graeme Smith has firmly held on to his 12th position, AB de Villiers has achieved his career-best 18th position. He was South Africa’s leading run-getter in the series with 384 runs.

England captain Kevin Pietersen has strengthened his eighth position, but Ian Bell and Pietersen’s predecessor Michael Vaughan have lost significant ground in batting list. Bell has dropped six places to 22nd spot while Vaughan sits in 41st position after losing four places.

In the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, South Africa’s Makhaya Ntini has swapped places with England’s Ryan Sidebottom, who missed the last Test. Ntini had figures of 7-149 to put him in clear fifth position while Sidebottom dropped to sixth after losing one per cent of his rating for missing the match.

England’s Monty Panesar has jumped three places to share 10th place with India captain Anil Kumble, who dropped a place following figures of 3-157 in the third Test at Colombo.

Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and bowlers (as of 12 August)

Batsmen

Rank +/-                                             Points   Ave

1 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul      W Indies              890      49.08

2 (+3) K.C.Sangakkara    Sri Lanka              886      54.79

3 (-1) Mike Hussey        Australia               882      68.38

4= (-1) Ricky Ponting     Australia               880      58.37

(-1) Mohammad Yousuf  Pakistan                880      55.49

6 ( - ) M.Jayawardena   Sri Lanka               837      52.41

7 ( - ) Matthew Hayden Australia                834      53.51

8 ( - ) Kevin Pietersen   England                 829       50.51

9 (+1) Younis Khan       Pakistan                799       49.14

10 (+1) Virender Sehwag India                   786       52.62

Bowlers

Rank +/-                                                Points    Ave

1 ( - ) M.Muralidaran      Sri Lanka              895       21.96

2 ( - ) Stuart Clark        Australia               863        21.46

3 ( - ) Dale Steyn         S Africa                847        22.51

4 ( - ) Brett Lee           Australia               793        29.58

(+1) Makhaya Ntini        S Africa               760         28.22

6 (-1) Ryan Sidebottom  England               738         25.68

7=( - ) Chaminda Vaas   Sri Lanka              684        29.31

(+1) Shoaib Akhtar        Pakistan               684        25.69

9 (+1) Shane Bond        NZ                      668         22.39

10=(-1) Anil Kumble       India                   653         29.34

(+3) Monty Panesar      England                653         31.95

CHARLIE SAYS: Seems incredible, but perhaps the great man is finally reaching the end of his career.