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Pakistan’s Mohammad Yousuf consolidated his hold on the second place in the International Cricket Council (ICC) player rankings for the Test batsmen when his sublime double of 56 and 191 helped him secure a draw for his side against the West Indies in Multan on Thursday.

The elegant right-hander’s seventh Test hundred of the year meant he has not only increased his rating to a new record mark for a Pakistan batsman but also that he has closed the gap to Australian captain Ricky Ponting at the top of the list to just 17 points.

Ponting may well extend that margin thanks to his hundred at Brisbane but Yousuf still has a batting record in his sights when he faces the West Indies bowlers in Karachi next week.

Yousuf now has 1562 Test runs in 2006 and needs only another 149 in the final Test at Karachi to become the most prolific Test batsman ever in a calendar year.

The existing record is held by former West Indian batting icon Vivian Richards who totalled 1710 runs in ten Tests in 1976.

But with Yousuf in such prolific form, it is a mark that is well within his range. Yousuf is clear of Indian captain Rahul Dravid, who occupies the third position in the Test batsmen’s rankings, but behind Dravid is Brian Lara, like Yousuf another man in red-hot touch presently.

The left-hander’s 216 in the Multan Test, his ninth score of more than 200, has seen him climb up four places to fourth in the rankings and he is also a player who could threaten top spot in the not-too-distant future.

Pakistan’s Younis Khan sixth, down two, and Inzamam-ul-Haq 13th, down one, are both heading in the wrong direction in the batting list after modest returns in Multan while the LG Player Rankings for Test bowlers sees no movement within the top 20 places in the wake of that match.

That bowling table is headed by Sri Lanka’s off-spinning magician Muttiah Muralitharan, clear of South Africa ‘s Makhaya Ntini. Outside the top 20, West Indies’ Jerome Taylor continues to make impressive strides, climbing 15 places to the 41st position.

The ICC player rankings for Test all-rounders is still topped by South Africa ‘s Jacques Kallis but England captain Andrew Flintoff, currently lying second in that list, can close that gap with a solid display in the opening Ashes encounter.

In the ICC Test Championship table, Pakistan are looking to consolidate their hold on the third place and have already gone some way to doing that after their nine-wicket win in the first Test against the West Indies in Lahore.

But, in spite of that victory, Pakistan still need a win in Karachi next week to maintain their current ranking of 112 points and their one-point lead over fourth-placed India. Australia currently head the ICC Test Championship table, 11points clear of their nearest rivals England, while the West Indies team are at the eighth spot, 40 rating points behind Pakistan.

Source:The News