Sachin Tendulkar is the only Indian batsman in the top 10 of ICC Test Player Rankings while Zaheer Khan is the only Indian bowler in top 20 of ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. Meanwhile, South Africa’s fast bowler Vernon Philander has achieved a career-best second position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers after inspiring his side to a 51 runs victory over England in the third Test at Lord’s, which gave the Proteas a 2-0 series win, and, with it, the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Test Championship table.

The 27-year-old, who has been shortlisted for LG People’s Choice Award 2012, returned figures of two for 48 and five for 30. This performance has helped him leapfrog Pakistan’s off-spinner Saeed Ajmal into second spot and has put him just 29 ratings points behind team-mate Dale Steyn.

Philander backed up his marvelous bowling performance with scores of 61 and 35 in South Africa’s totals of 309 and 351, respectively. Apart from walking away with the man of the match award, the show with the bat has given him a boost of 40 places in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen and has put him in 92nd position, while the combined performance with the bat and the ball has given him a career-high seventh position (up by 14 places) in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.

England’s Steven Finn is the other bowler to be rewarded with a jump. The 23-year-old fast bowler recorded figures of eight for 149 which have helped him break into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

Finn is now in 16th position (up by 10 places) and is the fourth England bowler after James Anderson (fifth), Stuart Broad (eighth), Graeme Swann (13th) and Tim Bresnan (20th) to find a place inside the top 20 bowlers.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, South Africa’s Hashim Amla, who was adjudged player of the series for his aggregate of 482 runs (average 120.5), has reclaimed his number-two position, which he last held in February 2010.

Amla now trails number-one ranked Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka by 23 ratings points.

JP Duminy of South Africa and England’s Jonny Bairstow are the other batsmen to head in the right direction.

Duminy, who scored 61 and 26 not out, has moved up seven places to 53rd position while Bairstow’s masterly knocks of 95 and 54 have helped him vault 101 places to 69th spot.

Batsmen losing ground after the Lord’s Test include Jacques Kallis in fourth (down by two places), Graeme Smith in seventh (down by one place), Alastair Cook in 12th (down by four places), Jonathan Trott in 16th (down by two places), Ian Bell in 18th (down by one place) and Andrew Strauss in 30th (down by one place).

There is also a change in the guard in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders where Kallis’ drop means Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is back in number-one position.

Meanwhile, India hosts New Zealand in a two-Test series in Hyderabad from Thursday and there will be some movement on the Reliance ICC Test Championship table, irrespective of how the series pans out.

India currently sits in fifth position, five ratings points behind fourth-ranked Pakistan. A 2-0 victory will earn Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side two ratings points, which will put India on 106 ratings points, while pushing New Zealand to 76 ratings points (down from 80).

However, if the series result is reversed, then India will slip behind Sri Lanka into sixth position and New Zealand will reduce the 10-point difference with the seventh-ranked West Indies to just one rating point.

In case of a one-all series result, India will concede three ratings points while New Zealand will gain three ratings points.

India v New Zealand series schedule

23-27 Aug – 1st Test, Hyderabad
31 Aug-4 Sept – 2nd Test, Bengaluru

Reliance ICC Test Championship (as of 21 August, after England-South Africa series, before the start of India-New Zealand series)
Rank    Team               Rating
1          South Africa    120
2          England           117
3          Australia          116
4          Pakistan           109
5          India                104
6          Sri Lanka         98
7          West Indies      90
8          New Zealand   80
9          Bangladesh      0

Reliance ICC Test Rankings (as on 21 August, after England-South Africa series, before the start of India-New Zealand series)

Batsmen

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team     Pts          Ave         HS Rating
1           ( - )          K.Sangakkara      SL           892         56.73     938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2           (+1)         Hashim Amla       SA           869         49.95     872 v Eng at The Oval 2012
3           (+1)         S.Chanderpaul     WI          829         50.20     901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4           (-2)          Jacques Kallis       SA           822         56.94     935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
5           ( - )          AB de Villiers        SA           806         48.85     821 v Eng at The Oval 2012
6           (+1)         Michael Clarke    Aus         771         48.77     855 v Eng at Headingley 2009
7           (-1)          Graeme Smith      SA           767         49.78     843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
8           (+1)         Younus Khan       Pak         761         51.69     880 v SL at Lahore 2009
9           (+2)         Azhar Ali               Pak         753!       45.27     753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
10         (+2)         S Tendulkar          Ind          749         55.44     898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
11         (-1)          Kevin Pietersen    Eng         746         49.48     909 v WI at Headingley 2007
12=       (-4)          Alastair Cook       Eng         731         47.84     836 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
(+1)         Ross Taylor          NZ          731         42.80     775 v Pak at Wellington 2009
14=       ( - )          Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak         720         45.68     771 v Eng at Abu Dhabi 2012
( - )          T.Samaraweera   SL           720         51.29     775 v SA at Cape Town 2012
16         (-2)          Jonathan Trott     Eng         719         50.49     856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
17         (+1)         Mike Hussey        Aus         705         50.07     921 v WI at Kingston 2008
18         (-1)          Ian Bell                  Eng         704         46.83     822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
19         ( - )          M.Jayawardene   SL           693        50.43     883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
20         ( - )          Ricky Ponting       Aus         691         52.75     942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006

Bowlers

Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team         Pts          Ave         HS Rating
1           ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           881         23.50     902 v SL at Centurion 2011
2           (+1)         Vernon Philander SA           852*!    15.96     852 v Eng at Lord's 2012
3           (-1)          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         832         27.09     836 v SL at Galle 2012
4           ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           782!       31.72     782 v Pak at Pallekele 2012
5           ( - )          James Anderson  Eng         761         30.39     813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
6           ( - )          Ben Hilfenhaus    Aus         756*      28.03     757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
7           (+1)         Peter Siddle           Aus         740         29.27     768 v Ind at Adelaide 2012
8           (-1)          Stuart Broad         Eng         727         31.02     783 v WI at Lord's 2012
9           ( - )          Morne Morkel      SA           724         30.36     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
10         ( - )          Kemar Roach       WI          712*!    27.69     712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
11         ( - )          Abdur Rehman    Pak         704*      28.40     739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
12         ( - )          Zaheer Khan        Ind          697         31.78     752 v SA at Durban 2010
13         ( - )          Graeme Swann    Eng         683         29.58     858 v Pak at Lord's 2010
14         ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        678*      31.33     680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
15         ( - )          Chris Martin         NZ          638         33.79     669 v SA at Hamilton 2012
16         (+10)      Steven Finn           Eng         621*!    28.15     621 v SA at Lord's 2012
17         (-1)          Daniel Vettori       NZ          588         34.42     681 v Aus at Auckland 2000
18         (-1)          Ryan Harris          Aus         587*      23.63     614 v WI at Bridgetown 2012
19         (-1)          Umar Gul              Pak         584         33.66     642 v Eng at Dubai 2012
20         (-1)          Tim Bresnan         Eng         575*      30.05     657 v WI at Edgbaston 2012

All-rounders
Rank      (+/-)        Player                   Team      Pts                          HS Rating
1           (+1)         Shakib Al Hasan Ban        404/*!   404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
2           (-1)          Jacques Kallis       SA           390        616 v Pak at Durban 2002
3           ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         334/*    394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011
4           (+1)         Daniel Vettori       NZ          320        412 v Pak at Napier 2009
5           (-1)          Stuart Broad         Eng         318        382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012