After a perfect day in Mirpur where Mehedi Hasan claimed 12 wicket as Bangladesh achieved a landmark first-ever Test Match victory against England to level the series, the teenager has rocketed up the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers into 33rd position.
Mehedi, who won the player of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 award at the same venue eight months ago, returned match figures of 12 for 159, which has given him a lift of 28 positions. The off-spinner had entered the player rankings last week after taking seven for 138 on his debut in Chittagong.
Mehedi is now Bangladesh’s second highest-ranked Test bowler behind Shakib Al Hasan (15th). The 19-year-old looks strong to gain further points and can potentially break into the 20 as he is still in the qualification period. A bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has taken 100 wickets, while Mehedi has claimed 19 wickets in two Tests.
The other bowlers to improve their rankings following the Mirpur Test are England’s trio of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, with the latter two also both featuring in the top 5 all-rounders list.
Woakes, who took three for 30 in the first innings, has moved up two places to 18th, Stokes has achieved a career-high ranking of 21st after moving up two places following match figures of five for 65, while Ali has gained two places and is now in 25th spot after figures of five for 57 and one for 60.
In what turned out to be a difficult Test for batsmen, England captain Alastair Cook has climbed one place to 11th following scores of 14 and 59, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has risen four places to 20th after scores of 104 and 40, Mominul Haque has lifted one place to 26th after contributing 66 and one, Shakib Al Hasan is now in 27th position after moving up one place following scores of 10 and 41, and Imrul Kayes has earned two spots and is now in 53rd position after chipping in with one and 78.
England’s Joe Root has dropped out of the top three. He has slipped two places to fifth following scores of 56 and one.
Bangladesh’s 108 runs victory in Mirpur has also earned the youngest of the 10 Test playing countries eight ranking points. This means it is now on 65 points, just two points behind eighth-ranked West Indies. In contrast, fourth-ranked England has dropped to 105 points after conceding three points.
Australia v South Africa
Meanwhile, Australia and South Africa will go head to head in a mouth-watering three-Test series starting in Perth on Thursday.
Australia is currently ranked third on 108 points, while South Africa is in fifth spot on 96 points. Any side making a sweep of the series will jump in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.
A 3-0 win will put Australia on 112 points and ahead of Pakistan in second place even if the Asian side defeats the West Indies by 3-0. In contrast, South Africa will join England on 105 points if it wins 3-0 but will be fraction of a point behind in fourth place, whereas Australia will drop to fifth on 102 points.
Australia captain Steve Smith will start the series as the number-one ranked batsman, leading South Africa’s third-ranked batsman Hashim Amla by 59 points. Adam Voges (seventh), David Warner (ninth), Faf de Plessis (25th), Dean Elgar (28th) and Quinton de Kock (30th) are the other batsmen inside the top 30 to feature in the series.
Amongst the bowlers, the former Glamorgan T20 star and second-ranked Dale Steyn trails India’s number-one ranked Ravichandran Ashwin by 22 points, while Mitchell Starc is Australia’s highest-ranked bowler in eighth position – 69 points ahead of South Africa’s 10th-ranked Vernon Philander.
Bowlers outside the top 10 and aiming to improve their rankings include Josh Hazlewood (11th), Morne Morkel (13th), Nathan Lyon (14th) and Peter Siddle (19th).
In the all-rounders’ list, which is headed by Ashwin, Starc is the highest-ranked player from either side in sixth position – 15 points ahead of Philander.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (After England-Bangladesh series and before the start of Australia-South Africa series)
Rank Team Points
1 India 115
2 Pakistan 111
3 Australia 108
4 England 105 (-3)
5 South Africa 96
6 Sri Lanka 95
7 New Zealand 91
8 West Indies 67
9 Bangladesh 65 (+8)
10 Zimbabwe 08
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF ICC Test Player Rankings (After England-Bangladesh series and before the start of Australia-South Africa series)
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 906 58.55 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
2 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 860 54.30 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
3 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 847 51.16 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 841 50.31 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 (-2) Joe Root Eng 834 53.28 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
6 ( - ) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 825! 51.37 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
7= ( - ) Adam Voges Aus 802* 72.75 824 v SL at Galle 2016
( - ) AB de Villiers SA 802 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
9 ( - ) David Warner Aus 772 48.63 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
10 ( - ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 765 48.71 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
11 (+1) Alastair Cook Eng 738 46.87 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
12 ( - ) Azhar Ali Pak 737 46.12 754 v WI at Dubai 2016
13 (+1) Asad Shafiq Pak 732 43.84 758 v Eng at Lord's 2016
14= (+1) Angelo Mathews SL 731 47.16 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
(+1) C. Pujara Ind 731 49.22 851 v SA at Durban 2013
16= (+1) Virat Kohli Ind 718 45.56 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
(-5) Jonny Bairstow Eng 718 40.84 750 v Ban at Chittagong 2016
18 ( - ) D. Chandimal SL 692! 44.25 692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016
19 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 675 46.24 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
20 (+4) Tamim Iqbal Ban 668 40.34 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 900! 24.29 900 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 878 22.24 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
3 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 853 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016
4 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 831 28.71 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
5 ( - ) Yasir Shah Pak 829 27.27 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
6 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 821 28.48 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
7 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 805* 23.52 809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
8 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 792! 27.36 792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016
9 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 731* 29.63 760 v SA at Centurion 2016
10 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 723 22.09 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
11= ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 715 29.56 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 715* 26.40 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
13 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 710 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 677 32.80 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016
15 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 672 32.16 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
16 ( - ) Dilruwan Perera SL 645* 28.35 658 v Aus at Galle 2016
17 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 637 32.63 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
18 (+2) Chris Woakes Eng 603* 25.86 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016
19 (-1) Peter Siddle Aus 602 29.88 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
20 (-1) D. Prasad SL 583* 35.97 632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015
England and Bangladesh will do battle again when the ICC Champions Trophy starts in 1st June and both nations will play in Cardiff next year during the group phase against New Zealand. Match tickets are now on general sale for all tournament fixtures (subject to availability), visit www.icc-cricket.com/tickets to purchase.