Graeme Swann has suffered a personal demotion following England's heavy defeat in the first Test against Pakistan, with Saeed Ajmal nabbing his official status as the best spinner in the world.

Swann took four wickets but Saeed, who was the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2011, picked up where he left off with match figures of 10 for 97. They have fired him from 12th to third in the International Cricket Council's world rankings for bowlers, with Swann dropping to fourth.

James Anderson remains second, behind the South Africa spearhead Dale Steyn, with Stuart Broad just behind Swann in fifth – well ahead of Umar Gul and Abdur Rehman, who also made significant contributions to Pakistan's win but remain outside the top 10.

The collective flop of England's batsmen is reflected, as Alastair Cook drops from third to fifth, Ian Bell from fourth to seventh, and Kevin Pietersen way down to 16th – not surprisingly as they managed 14 runs in six innings between them in Dubai.

Matt Prior is now only two places below Pietersen in 18th after making England's only half-century of the match, well ahead of Andrew Strauss, who drops another six places to 34th.

Pakistan's veteran Younis Khan is now the highest-ranked batsman in the series, having climbed above Cook to fourth, while their captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is 14th, and Mohammad Hafeez is 30th – although he is ranked 13th in the all-rounders' list.

RELIANCE ICC TEST RANKINGS (AFTER DUBAI TEST)

Batsmen top 10

1 ( no change ) Kumar Sangakkara SL, 850

2 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA, 846

3 (+2) AB de Villiers SA, 815

4 (+2) Younis Khan Pak, 791

5 (-2) Alastair Cook Eng, 782

6 (+1) Jonathan Trott Eng, 781

7 (-3) Ian Bell Eng, 780

8 ( – ) Thilan Samaraweera SL, 775

9 ( – ) Sachin Tendulkar Ind, 774

10 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus, 768

Bowling top 10

1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA, 896

2 ( – ) James Anderson Eng, 799

3 (+9) Saeed Ajmal Pak, 762

4 (-1) Graeme Swann Eng, 752

5 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng, 737

6 (-1) Peter Siddle Aus, 736

7 (-1) Ben Hilfenhaus Aus, 718

8 (-1) Morne Morkel SA, 715

9 (-1) Zaheer Khan Ind, 705

10 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban, 678