Bangladesh’s Sakib al Hasan was dethroned from his number one spot in the Reliance International Cricket Council’s Test all-rounder ranking by South African Jacques Kallis, said an ICC press note releasing the latest ranking on Wednesday.
Former Bangladesh captain Sakib reached a new height in his thriving career when he became the number one Test all-rounder in the ICC rankings after his superb performance against Pakistan in the second Test in Dhaka and held the position since December 17, 2011.
His feat of scoring a century and taking a five-for in the same Test match made him the first Bangladeshi cricketer to take the top positions as an all-rounder in both the Test and one-day rankings.
Though Sakib recently regained his top spot in the ICC ODI all-rounder ranking, the ace Bangladeshi cricketer failed to cling on to the number one spot in five-day format of the game which he considered as one of his crowning moments so far in his stellar career.
Sakib, who earned 404 ranking points to climb to the top of the ladder, is currently in second position with 371 points, exactly three points less than the mercurial South African all-rounder Kallis, who was always breathing down his neck in recent times.
The duo had been fighting for the accolade since Sakib’s inception at the top in the longer-version of the game, regarded as the ultimate testing ground for any cricketer.
Sakib, who is recovering from an operation on his calf muscle, missed the opportunity of taking part in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka and is expected to make a comeback in the forthcoming two-Test series against Zimbabwe starting on April 17.
His last international appearance came against the West Indies at home in December 2012 where he injured himself in the second Test match and since then he was sidelined from performing his national duties.
-With New Age input
