DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CMC) – Veteran West Indies middle order batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul continues to hold steady to the number three position in world cricket, according to the latest Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings released on Tuesday.

Chanderpaul is 879 ratings points behind Australia’s Michael Clarke in second position with Hashim Amla of South Africa leading the rankings.

Clarke, who was recently dislodged from the number one spot, has dropped three ratings points and now trails number-one ranked Amla by 13 ratings points.

The biggest gains have been made by Indian batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who have achieved their career-best rankings in batting and bowling respectively.

Pujara, named player of the match for his double-century in the second Test, has jumped 12 places to a career-best 11th position, while Ashwin, who had match figures of six for 104, is now at a best-ever eighth spot, having jumped three positions.

In the ICC team rankings, West Indies is ranked number seven after New Zealand and Bangladesh while South Africa has already sealed its position as the number-one ranked Test side at the 1 April cut-off date.

The South Africans have therefore not only retained the Test mace but have also been assured of a reward of US$450,000.

But a further US$750,000 is still up for grabs and will be distributed to teams that will finish second, third and fourth on the Championship table at the cut-off date.