Pakistan batsman leapfrogs New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, England batsman Joe Root and South Africa’s Hashim Amla with innings of 127 and 29 not out.
Pakistan batsman Younus Khan has moved up three places to second in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following his side’s 133 runs victory over the West Indies in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday that has helped it take a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Younus, who had missed the day-night opening Test in Dubai due to an illness, has leapfrogged New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, England batsman Joe Root and South Africa’s Hashim Amla with innings of 127 and 29 not out.
Younus, who claimed number one ranking in March 2009 following his triple century in Lahore against Sri Lanka, hasn’t been ranked as high as second since July 2009. Younus now leads Root by eight points but trails Australia’s number-one ranked Steve Smith by 46 points.
England’s engrossing 22-run win over Bangladesh in the opening Test in Chittagong that ended on Monday, has seen wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow move up two slots to a career-best 11th place with scores of 52 and 47. Moeen Ali has also reached a career-high 26th rank as his scores of 68 and 14 have helped him move up two slots.
England’s Ben Stokes won the player of the match award for his performance in the Chittagong Test and this is reflected in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.
The 25-year-old Stokes, who along with Root and Jos Buttler played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand, has not only gained eight positions to reach 36th in the batting rankings with scores of 18 and 85, but has also moved up four slots to 23rd rank among bowlers after grabbing six wickets in the match.
The Yorkshireman has also reached a career-best fourth rank in the all-rounders’ list after gaining three places and is now just 11 points behind Ali, who is England’s highest-ranked all-rounder in third place.
For Bangladesh, left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal has moved up two slots to reach 24th position with scores of 78 and nine, while debutant Sabbir Rahman has entered the top 100 in 92nd position with innings of 19 and 64 not out.
In the MRF Tyres Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, which is led by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah’s match haul of 10 for 210 in Abu Dhabi has seen him return to the top five.
Yasir, who peaked to the top during the series against England, has joined England’s Stuart Broad in fifth place, who has dropped one place after claiming just two Bangladesh wickets in Chittagong.
Zimbabwe versus Sri Lanka
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe hosts Sri Lanka in a two-Test series starting 29 October in Harare in what could be a chance for the home side to garner some points since the 10th-ranked side trails the sixth-ranked opposition by 87 points and this is weighted to reflect this difference.
Sri Lanka will only gain one point to reach 96 points if it wins the series 2-0 and will remain on 95 points with a 1-0 win. Zimbabwe will lose three points if it loses both matches but will gain two points even if it loses 1-0.
A loss by any margin for Sri Lanka, which will be without its regular captain and top-ranked batsman Angelo Mathews (joint-15th), will see it slip behind New Zealand to seventh position.
The Test team rankings, unlike the ODI and T20I team rankings, are only updated at the end of the series. The ICC Test predictor function is available here.
Forthcoming Tests:
Pakistan v West Indies: 30 Oct-3 Nov – 3rd Test, Sharjah
Bangladesh v England: 28 Oct-1 Nov – 2nd Test, Mirpur
Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka: 29 Oct-2 Nov – 1st Test, Harare
Cardiff will host a wealth of international cricket next June will the return of the ICC Champions Trophy. Tickets will go sale tomorrow at 2pm for the four matches in the Welsh captial from www.icc-cricket.com/tickets.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 25 October, after the first Bangladesh-England Test and the second Pakistan-West Indies Test).
Rank Team Points
1.India 115
2.Pakistan 111
3.Australia 108
4.England 108
5.South Africa 96
6.Sri Lanka 95
7.New Zealand 91
8.West Indies 67
9.Bangladesh 57
10.Zimbabwe 8
(Developed by David Kendix)