Ashwin reclaims top spot in Test rankings by International Cricket Council

---

Player:	R Ashwin
Event:	New Zealand in India 2016/17

---

DateLine: 13th October 2016

 

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers with a career-best haul of 13-140 in the final Test that helped defeat New Zealand by a massive 321 runs, India’s second biggest victory in terms of runs.

 

Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests. Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.

 

Ashwin, who finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year, has joined a select band to have touched a rating of 900 points since 2000, the others being Muttiah Muralidaran, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock.

 

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen led by Australia captain Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane has attained a career-best sixth-rank with scores of 188 and 23 not out. Rahane, whose previous best was eighth rank in August this year, has gained five slots after starting the match at 11th position.

 

The Indore Test also saw Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli move up the rankings. Pujara’s knocks of 41 and 101 not out have helped him move up one place to 14th rank while Kohli’s scores of 211 and 17 at Indore have helped him move up four places to 16th position.

 

For New Zealand, opener Martin Guptill has moved up 10 places to 58th rank with knocks of 72 and 29 while Jimmy Neesham has moved up 12 slots to 70th position.

 

In the all-rounders’ list, India’s Ravindra Jadeja has reached a career-best joint-third rank.

 

Pakistan v West Indies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

 

Meanwhile, Pakistan hosts the West Indies in a three-Test series in the UAE, which starts with a day-night match in Dubai on Thursday.

 

Pakistan’s players would be eyeing the opportunity to move up the rankings even though the team does not have a chance to reclaim the number-one ranking from India even with a 3-0 win.

 

The predictor function is available here. The Test table is updated at the end of a series, while the ODI and T20I team rankings are updated after each match.

 

Fourth-ranked Younus Khan, who is just two points behind South Africa batsman Hashim Amla’s tally of 847 points, will miss the opening Test because of illness but 11th-ranked Misbah has a chance to overtake England batsman Alastair Cook, whom he trails by just six points.

 

Asad Shafiq (13th), Azhar Ali (17th) and Sarfraz Ahmed (19th) would also be looking to move towards the top 10 by dominating a side they blanked 3-0 in both an ODI series as well as a Twenty20 series that preceded the Tests.

 

Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who is just five wickets away from 100 wickets and a permanent ranking, is Pakistan’s leading bowler at sixth position while pace bowler Wahab Riaz is ranked 29th.

 

For West Indies, Darren Bravo (28th), Kraigg Brathwaite (31st) and Marlon Samuels (46th) are the leading batsmen while pace bowler Kemar Roach (23rd), leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (41st) and Shannon Gabriel (48th) are in the top-50.

 

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 October after the India-New Zealand series)

 

Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 906 58.55 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 878 54.86 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 847 51.16 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+1) Younus Khan Pak 845 53.72 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
5 (-2) Kane Williamson NZ 841 50.31 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
6 (+5) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 825! 51.37 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
7= (-1) Adam Voges Aus 802* 72.75 824 v SL at Galle 2016
(-1) AB de Villiers SA 802 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
9 (-1) David Warner Aus 772 48.63 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
10 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 770 47.31 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

 

Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11 (-1) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 764 48.27 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
13 ( - ) Asad Shafiq Pak 739 42.85 758 v Eng at Lord's 2016
14 (+1) C. Pujara Ind 731 49.22 851 v SA at Durban 2013
16 (+4) Virat Kohli Ind 718 45.56 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
17 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 692 43.27 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
19 ( - ) Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 678 43.79 715 v SL at Galle 2015
20 (-4) Ross Taylor NZ 675 46.24 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

 

Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 (+2) R. Ashwin Ind 900! 24.29 900 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 878 22.24 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
3 (-1) James Anderson Eng 870 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016
4 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 836 28.52 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
5 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 831 28.71 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
6 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 806* 27.48 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
7 (-1) 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 (+1) Neil Wagner NZ 731* 29.63 760 v SA at Centurion 2016
10 (+1) V. Philander SA 723 22.09 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

 

Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11= (-2) Trent Boult NZ 715 29.56 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
23 (+1) Kemar Roach WI 551 30.23 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
24 (-1) M. Shami Ind 547* 33.72 570 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
28 (-2) B. Kumar Ind 496* 28.04 501 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
29 ( - ) Wahab Riaz Pak 490*! 34.50 490 v Eng at The Oval 2016

 

All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 451! 451 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
3= (+1) R. Jadeja Ind 292*/*! 292 v NZ at Indore 2016
( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 292 /*! 292 v Pak at The Oval 2016
5 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 279! 279 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

 

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets. !indicates career-highest rating

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2016 International Cricket Council)