Shivnarine Chanderpaul has climbed to the top of the ICC Test Player rankings ahead of Sri Lankan wicketkeeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara.

This is Chanderpaul's first time at the top of the batting rankings after 112 Test matches, and he is the only West Indian batsman in the Top 20.

He averaged 91 in the recently concluded Test series between Australia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka being the model of consistency in the last 12 months, but ending up on the losing side in five out of eight Tests.

Chanderpaul, however, holds only a slight lead over Sangakkara. The lead is so small that if Sangakkara records a big score in the second Test against India, starting on July 31 in Galle, he will regain first place.  A low score will see Sangakkara lose more ground on Chanderpaul and slip further down the rankings.

On the bowling side, Jerome Taylor and Corey Collymore are the only two West Indians in the list of top 20 bowlers.  Taylor is currently rated at 12th, while Collymore is ranked just behind Taylor at 13th, although he last played for West Indies on the tour of England last year.

Exciting all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is ranked as the third best all-rounder, behind South Africa's Jaques Kallis, and New Zealand's Daniel Vettori.

Source: CMC