Jayawardene tops Test batsmen’s list

Dubai: Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene went on top of the ICC Test batsmen’s list in the latest rankings, riding on his double hundred in the first Test against India. Among the Indians, Sachin Tendulkar rose a rung to joint 15th but Gautam Gambhir slipped a place to third. Rahul Dravid jumped five places to be 21st while captain MS Dhoni is 30th. Among the bowlers, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh slipped one place to sixth with South African Dale Steyn leading the table, followed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.

Gayle set to rejoin team for Test series

Kingston: West Indies skipper Chris Gayle, who had returned home from Australia to be with his ailing mother, will rejoin the team on Monday and is expected to play in the first Test of the three-match series starting Thursday in Brisbane. “Gayle will be rejoining the team for the upcoming three-match Test series against Australia in Australia. He will depart from Kingston, Jamaica on Monday,” a WICB statement said.

Pak team face shortage of woollens

Dunedin: Pakistani cricketers’ misery in New Zealand has been compounded by a shortage of warm clothes in the playing kits for the Test series starting November 24. The playing kits of the players sent by the PCB have turned out to be inadequate to counter the cold conditions here. “The team left directly for New Zealand from Dubai and the kits were basically ordered keeping in mind warm weather,” a source in the board said.

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