After helping the home side score an innings and 36 runs victory for a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match Test series, India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has consolidated his position at the top of the ICC Player Rankings with his match haul of 12-167 in the fourth Test against England in Mumbai.
Ashwin, who had touched the coveted 900-point mark for the first time in October when he had reclaimed the top-ranking, has reached 904 points to run up a 37-point lead over second-placed Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka.
Ashwin’s rating is the second best-ever by an off-spinner after Muttiah Muralidaran (920), fifth best among spinners after Tony Lock (912), Derek Underwood (907) and Shane Warne (905), and the 18th in the overall list.
Ashwin, who grabbed six wickets each in the two innings in Mumbai, had finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year. He is also the top-ranked all-rounder at 483 points and enjoys a healthy lead over Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who is on 405 points with England’s Ben Stokes third with 341 points.
Ashwin’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja has bridged the gap with Stokes to just one point in the all-rounders’ list after taking six wickets in Mumbai. Jadeja’s continued success has also helped him reach a career-best ranking of sixth among bowlers.
In the Test batsmen rankings India captain Virat Kohli has continued his surge towards the top after his player of the match performance of 235 in India’s only innings in Mumbai. The 28-year-old’s highest Test score has earned him 53 points, which has lifted him by one position to a career-best second rank. He is now is in line to top the rankings in all three forms of the game at some point in time.
Kohli, who is currently ranked second in One-Day Internationals and first in Twenty20 Internationals, is just 11 points behind Australia captain Steve Smith, who will get a chance to maintain his top ranking in an upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan.
Other India players to make upward movements among batsmen are opener Murali Vijay and all-rounder Jayant Yadav. Vijay has moved up five places to 24th position after his knock of 136 while Yadav’s 104 runs at number nine position, has pushed him up 31 slots to 56th rank.
For England, debutant opener Keaton Jennings has entered the batsmen’s rankings at an impressive 64thposition after innings of 112 and zero.
Australia v Pakistan:
Australia and Pakistan will go head to head in a three-Test series starting in Brisbane on Thursday, with both the sides aiming for an upward movement. Australia is currently ranked third on 105 points, while Pakistan is fourth on 102 points.
However, positions can potentially change when the MRF ICC Rankings are updated following the Chennai Test. If second-ranked England wins the Test, then it will finish on 103 points, but it will end on 101 points if India wins the series 4-0.
Australia v Pakistan Series schedule:
15-19 December – 1st Test (day/night), Brisbane
26-30 December – 2nd Test, Melbourne
3-7 January – 3rd Test, Sydney
MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings (as of 13 December 2016, before the start of the Australia-Pakistan series)
Rank Team Points
- India 115
- England 105
- Australia 105
- Pakistan 102
- South Africa 102
- New Zealand 96
- Sri Lanka 96
- West Indies 69
- Bangladesh 65
- Zimbabwe 5
(Developed by David Kendix)
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