Sachin, Dravid and VVS slip in ICC Test rankings; Clarke jumps to 8th

While batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar's inability to reach the elusive 100th international ton made him slip two places to the sixth position, Dravid falling four spots to 15th and Laxman slipping one place to the 18th spot.

Sehwag has fallen out of the top 20, in 22nd position, after conceding four places.

Meanwhile, after notching an unbeaten triple ton in the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Aussie skipper Michael Clarke has rocketed his way into the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in 15 months.

This is Clarke's best ranking since his eighth position which he had achieved after the Mohali Test against India in October 2010. The charismatic skipper has also become his side's highest-ranked batsman after leapfrogging veteran southpaw Michael Hussey.

While, Hussey has moved up four places to 12th position after scoring an unconquered 150, former captain Ricky Ponting, who was the third centurion in the SCG Test, has also gained a place and is now in 23rd spot.

The other batters who have improved their rankings are veteran Protea all-rounder Jacques Kallis and his teammates AB de Villiers and Alviro Petersen.

For Sri Lanka, Thilan Samaraweera is the only batsman to make an upward movement.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Aussie pacer Ben Hilfenhaus has continued his impressive form and has broken into the top 20 for the maiden time in his career.

Hilfenhaus, who had figures of 3-51 and 5-106, has jumped 11 places to claim 11th position. The 28-year-old Tasmanian is just two ratings points behind 10th-ranked Daniel Vettori of New Zealand.

South Africa's Vernon Philander has also gained seven places to claim a career-best ranking of 21st after match figures of six for 100.

Meanwhile, after wrapping up its three-Test series against Sri Lanka on Friday with a crushing win in Cape Town, South Africa gained one ratings point, keeping it in the third position in the ICC Test Team Championship table.

Nevertheless, the good news for Graeme Smith's side is that it will will be ranked second when the Test Championship table is next updated after the Adelaide Test.

This is because India's successive defeats in Australia means the best Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side can now achieve is a two-all draw which will not be enough to keep it ahead of South Africa on the Championship table.

If the series in Australia ends in a draw, then India and South Africa will be locked at 117 ratings points but the Proteas will be ranked ahead of India when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

However, if Australia makes a clean sweep of the series, then both sides will be locked at 111 ratings points, but India will still be ranked above Australia by a fraction of a point.

Meanwhile, in the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, Kallis has returned to second position, which he had conceded after a disappointing Durban Test.

Kallis backed up his double-century with second innings figures of three for 35 which have helped him sit just nine ratings points behind Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh - the man who ended his reign of three thousand, six hundred and ninety-six days at the top of the all-rounders' ranking by becoming the first Bangladesh player to score a century and take five wickets in the same innings of a Test against Pakistan last month.