Back with a bang in Test whites after a gap of over 700 days, Rishabh Pant made a re-entry in the top-10 batting rankings, while fellow centurions of the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chennai — Shubman Gill and Ravichandran Ashwin — also gained in the latest ICC rankings.
Meanwhile, Yashasvi Jaiswal remained the highest ranked Indian Test batter after gaining a spot to rise to fifth.
Pant has re-entered the rankings in sixth position after scores of 39 and 109 while Gill has five places northward to a career-best 14th after his unbeaten 119 in the second innings while Ravichandran Ashwin’s crucial 113 in the first innings has lifted him seven places to 72nd position.
However, India skipper Rohit Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli lost five places each after a below-par outing in the first Test, and as a result Rohit finds himself at the bottom of the top-10 while Kohli slipped to 12th.
Ashwin and along with Ravindra Jadeja, who partnered in a decisive 199-run first innings partnership to build the base for India’s 280-run victory, have gained across the ranking lists. Jadeja’s contribution of 86 in that partnership has helped him gain three places to 37th position in the batting rankings.
Meanwhile, Ashwin, who spun India with match-inning figures of 6/88, has consolidated his position at the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings by gaining one rating point and Jadeja has moved up a spot to sixth position after finishing with five wickets in the match.
The two have also gained ranking points in the rankings for all-rounders. Jadeja has consolidated his position at the top with a career-best 475 points while Ashwin remains second but has added 48 points to go up to 370. Among others, rookie pacer Akash Deep is up 10 places to 88th after grabbing two wickets.
In the opposition camp, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hussain Shanto’s scores of 20 and 82 have helped him progress 14 places to 48th position and seam bowler Hasan Mahmud’s five-for in the first innings has lifted him five positions to 44th among bowlers. Shakib Al Hassan (up one place to 43rd among batters) and Taskin Ahmed (up eight places to 66th among bowlers) are other gainers from the team.
In the latest weekly update that also considers performances in the Galle Test in which Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 63 runs, left-arm spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya has achieved a career-best-equalling eighth position after a nine-wicket match haul that earned him the Player of the Match award. Kamindu Mendis is another major gainer for the Islanders, moving up three places to 16th after his first innings century while Kusal Mendis (up four places to 51st among batters) and Ramesh Mendis (29th among bowlers) are others to gain.
New Zealand’s Tom Latham has gained two places and is in 33rd position after scoring 70 in the first innings while Rachin Ravindra is up 18 places to 42nd after scoring 92 in the second. Left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel has progressed from 35th to 25th after taking eight wickets in the match while William O’Rourke has moved from 51st to 41st.
Gurbaz becomes first Afghan to break into top-10 ODI batters list
Young Afghan star Rahmanullah Gurbaz continued his dream career in ODI cricket, hitting his seventh century in the format before his 23rd birthday, and as a result moved 10 spots up to eighth (692). This was the first-ever occasion that an Afghanistan batter had reached the top 10 positions of the ICC men’s ODI batting ranking.
The previous best performer from the Asian country in the ODI batting rankings was Ibrahim Zadran, who had reached the 12th rank.
Gurbaz edged Australian Travis Head, who moved seven spots to ninth (684) in large part thanks to his 154 in the first of five ODIs against rivals England.
Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan joined Rahmanullah in the rankings headlines, moving eight spots to third (668) in the ODI bowling rankings, claiming seven wickets across the team’s two victories against South Africa in UAE. The contributions of the pair helped Afghanistan to an ODI series win over the Proteas, their first against a top five-ranked opposition in their history.