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

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

Tendulkar had entered the series in 14th spot but has 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 has 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 has also moved up the order. Dravid, who scored 111 before being retired hurt, has jumped four places to occupy 15th position.

However, VVS Laxman has lost ground and has 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 has extended his advantage over South Africa’s Graeme Smith and Virender Sehwag has 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 nought and 151 in Mirpur and has 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 has become India’s highest-ranked bowler in sixth position. Zaheer has jumped five places after recording his maiden 10-wicket haul in the match. Zaheer finished with figures of 10-149 to win the man-of-the-match award.

Zaheer’s team-mate Harbhajan Singh, however, has slipped two places to eighth position after managing just two wickets.

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

Meanwhile, India has earned one ratings point for its 2-0 win over Bangladesh which puts it on 125 ratings 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 6 February with India trying to defend its position at the top of the table while South Africa aiming to regain the spot it conceded on 6 December.

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.

Reliance Mobile ICC Test Championship (as of 28 January, after the end of Bangladesh-India Test series)

Rank   Team              Rating

1          India                125

2          South Africa   120

3          Australia          118

4          Sri Lanka         115

5          England           107

6          New Zealand  81

7          Pakistan           80

8          West Indies     77

9          Bangladesh     12

(Developed by David Kendix)

ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 28 January, after the end of Bangladesh-India Test series)

Batsmen

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating

   1           ( - )          G.Gambhir            Ind          882         57.50     886 v SL at Kanpur 2009

   2           ( - )          Graeme Smith      SA           843!       50.89     843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

   3           ( - )          M.Jayawardena   SL           836         53.96     883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009

   4           ( - )          K. Sangakkara     SL           835         55.10     938 v Eng at Kandy 2007

   5           ( - )          Michael Clarke    Aus         805         50.19     855 v Eng at Headingley 2009

   6           ( - )          Virender Sehwag  Ind          797         52.46     854 v SA at Kolkata 2004

   7           ( - )          Ricky Ponting       Aus         783         55.67     942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

   8           ( - )          Jacques Kallis       SA           773         54.56     935 v NZ at Centurion 2007

   9           (+4)         S.Tendulkar          Ind          772         55.37     898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002

  10         (-1)          S.Chanderpaul     WI          765         48.70     901 v NZ at Napier 2008

  11         (-1)          Ross Taylor          NZ          763         42.15     775 v Pak at Wellington 2009

  12         (-1)          M.Yousuf              Pak         761         53.07     933 v WI at Karachi 2006

  13         (-1)          Younus Khan       Pak         754         50.09     880 v SL at Lahore 2009

  14         ( - )          AB de Villiers        SA           733         43.56     745 v Eng at Centurion 2009

  15         (+4)         Rahul Dravid        Ind          727         53.75     892 v Pak at Kolkata 2005

  16         ( - )          Mike Hussey        Aus         709         53.04     921 v WI at Kingston 2008

  17         ( - )          T.Samaraweera   SL           707         51.14     747 v Ind at Kanpur 2009

  18         ( - )          Simon Katich       Aus         706         44.91     720 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

  19         (-4)          VVS Laxman       Ind          703         45.70     753 v Aus at Sydney 2004

  20         ( - )          Chris Gayle           WI          688         40.61     704 v Eng at Antigua 2009

Bowlers

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Points    Ave         HS Rating

   1           ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           852        23.70     897 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2008

   2           ( - )          Mitchell Johnson Aus         780         28.45     825 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

   3           ( - )          Mohammad Asif Pak         757*      23.20     792 v Aus at Sydney 2010

   4           ( - )          M.Muralidaran    SL           752         22.71     920 v Ban at Kandy 2007

   5           ( - )          Graeme Swann    Eng         732*      30.69     756 v SA at Durban 2009

   6           (+5)         Zaheer Khan        Ind          715 !      33.04     715 v Ban at Dhaka 2010

   7           ( - )          Morne Morkel      SA           691*!    31.47     691 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010

   8           (-2)          Harbhajan Singh Ind          679         31.00     765 v NZ at Wellington 2002

   9           (-1)          Stuart Broad         Eng         673*      35.38     697 v SA at Durban 2009

  10         (-1)          Makhaya Ntini    SA           671         28.82     863 v Ind at Durban 2006

  11         (-1)          Stuart Clark          Aus         668*      23.86     863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008

  12         ( - )          Paul Harris            SA           648*      33.64     705 v Eng at Centurion 2009

  13         ( - )          James Anderson  Eng         639         34.80     710 v Aus at Edgbaston 2009

  14         ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        626*      29.39     633 v Ind at Chittagong 2010

  15         ( - )          Ishant Sharma     Ind          624*!    32.85     624 v Ban at Dhaka 2010

  16         ( - )          Daniel Vettori       NZ          613         33.61     681 v Aus at Auckland 2000

  17         ( - )          Danish Kaneria    Pak         599         34.27     723 v Eng at Multan 2005

  18         ( - )          Jerome Taylor      WI          598*      35.64     717 v Eng at Kingston 2009

  19         ( - )          Peter Siddle           Aus         597*      31.53     617 v Eng at The Oval 2009

  20         ( - )          Chris Martin         NZ          592         33.61     643 v Eng at Lord's 2004

All-rounders

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Points    HS Rating

   1           ( - )          Jacques Kallis       SA           441        616 v Pak at Durban 2002

   2           ( - )          Daniel Vettori       NZ          412!       412 v Pak at Napier 2009

   3           ( - )          Graeme Swann    Eng         306*/*  307 v SA at Durban 2009

   4           (+1)         Mitchell Johnson Aus         302        384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

   5           (-1)          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        295*/*  303 v Ind at Chittagong 2010