Saeed Ajmal becomes best Test spinner in the world

The 34 year-old off-spinner registered his second ten-wicket haul - a career best 7-55 in the first innings and 3-42 in the second - to steer Pakistan to an overwhelming victory over England

Ajmal has leapfrogged England's off-spinner Swann who has slipped one position to fourth, while Ajmal's spin partner Abdul Rehman has also leapt five places which has put him in a career best 14th position.

South African paceman Dale Steyn tops the bowlers' list with 896 rating points.

"Ajmal earned 117 ratings points for his magnificent bowling performance, now has England's second-ranked James Anderson firmly within his sights who has 37 more ratings points," the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced.

The latest rankings also brought bad news for England batsmen.

England opener Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, who entered in third and fourth positions respectively, have slipped two and three positions respectively, while Kevin Pietersen has fallen out of the top 10.

The Pakistan batsmen have made positive gains with Younus Khan in fourth (up by two), captain Misbah-ul-Haq in 14th (up by three), Mohammad Hafeez in 30th (up by 15), Taufeeq Umar in 32nd (up by six) and wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal in 70th (up by 23).

Top 10 Test bowlers

1. 896 Dale Steyn SA

2. 799 James Anderson ENG

3. 762 Saeed Ajmal PAK

4. 752 Graeme Swann ENG

5. 737 Stuart Broad ENG

6. 736 Peter Siddle AUS

7. 718 Ben Hilfenhaus AUS

8. 715 Morne Morkel SA

9. 705 Zaheer Khan IND

10. 678 Shakib Al Hasan BAN