The 34-year-old registered his second ten-wicket haul, a career best 7-55 in the first innings and 3-42 in the second to help Pakistan take a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series.
Ajmal termed his top ranking as a "great honour."
"It's a great honour to be the best spinner in the world but performing in my team's win is always more important for me than anything else," Ajmal said.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) added: "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."
Given that Ajmal is still in a qualification period for bowlers, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the second Test which starts in Abu Dhabi on January 25, the ICC said.
South African paceman Dale Steyn tops the bowlers' list with 896 rating points.
Ajmal has also leapfrogged England's off-spinner Graeme 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.
The latest rankings have 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.
Pietersen, who scored two and nought in the Dubai Test, has lost six places and is now in 16th position while England captain Andrew Strauss has also dropped six places to 34th spot.
The only England batsmen to make any upward movements are wicketkeeper Matt Prior in 18th (up by one) and Swann in 64th (up by 11).
In contrast, the Pakistan batsmen have made positive gains with Younus Khan in fourth (up by two), captain Misbahul 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).
COMMENTS (14)
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I saw a recent interview of Ajmal and he said that he would play as long as he's fit, would retire the day that he thinks he's no more capable. So, let's not worry about how long Ajmal can play etc. I am sure he can play till the 2015 world cup but that's up to his fitness. We should enjoy his bowling as long as we can because we are witnessing one of the greatest spin bowlers of all times!
I consider SA even better than Saqlain Mushtaq because Saqlain is the inventor of Doosra but SA uses it better than him.
I believe that he can play five more years because he is supper fit.@ashok sai:
AJ-mauled!!!!
Bravo! Great performance by Ajmal. The way he troubled English batsmen brings back the memories of Iqbal Qasim and Nazir Jr. (The great Sir Viv Richards had problems playing Nazir Jr in 1980)
He is a very good spinner, no doubt about it, but he is 34 now and hardly have 1 or 2 years left in his career, better Pakistan utilising him well.
Ajmal will dominate all over the world,really good news for pakistan cricket
Undoubtedly he is the best spinner in the world
Please forgive Usman :-)
@Usman: not one match bro i think you dont follow cricket well :)... he is the leading wicket taker in 2011 and check the icc ranking for players
@Usman: Seems like you are not a cricket follower but consider it your duty to comment and expose your ignorance. In case you dont know he was declared the best spinner in 2011, holds the highest position for a spinner in ICC rankings (above Graeme Swan, also a brilliant spinner) and he has contributed massively in recent Pak test wins.
ET: Please dont allow comment for the sake of comment. Please maintain your editorial standards.
One match and hes the worlds best off spinner?
Ajmal is best off spinner of All Time.