ICC Test rankings: Jasprit Bumrah reclaims top spot in bowling; Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli make BIG jump in batting

Following India’s 295-run win over Australia in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test at Perth, India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has come back as the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings. Apart from him, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is another big gainer, as he achieved a career-best second spot in the batters’ list.

Bumrah picked eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings, and claimed Player of the Match honours in Perth, where he was leading India in Rohit Sharma’s absence. It has propelled him to go past South Africa quick Kagiso Rabada and Australia seamer Josh Hazlewood to reclaim the throne of top-ranked bowler in Test cricket.

Bumrah has also reached a career-best 883 rating points, the highest rating point tally ever achieved by an Indian fast-bowler. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (904) and Ravindra Jadeja (899) are the only bowlers from India to record higher point tallies. This is the third time that Bumrah has been top of the rankings this year, after being on top for two one-month phases in February and October this year.

His fellow pacer Mohammad Siraj has moved up three spots to 25th position in the bowling rankings. Jaiswal, who hit a brilliant 161 in the second innings in Perth, has overtaken Harry Brook and Kane Williamson to reach a career-best second position and gaining a new career-best rating of 825, which is 78 rating points behind the top-ranked England batter Joe Root.

Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 100, his 30th Test ton, has lifted him nine spots to 13th position after being outside the top 20 batters for the first time in 10 years before the start of Perth Test. KL Rahul, who hit a fine 77 in the second innings has advanced from 60th to 49th position, while all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has entered the batting rankings in 74th position after hitting good knocks of 41 and 38 not out on debut.

For Australia, left-handed batter Travis Head has jumped three spots to be at 10th place after notching a fighting 89 in the second innings while Alex Carey (up one place to 39th among batters) and Mitchell Marsh (up 10 places to 68th among bowlers) are among others to progress after their performances in Perth. Steve Smith, who made 0 and 17, has slipped to seventh place, his lowest position since December 2014.

There’s also been progression in the rankings after West Indies secured a 201-run victory in the first Test against Bangladesh at North Sound, Antigua. Batter Alick Athanaze has moved up 18 places to 62nd position after scores of 90 and 42 while Justin Greaves (up 43 places to 81st) and Mikyle Louis (up 25 places to joint-86th) have also made huge gained.

West Indies seamers Jayden Seales (up three places to a career-best 11th), Kemar Roach (up four places to 17th) and Alzarri Joseph (up three places to 29th) are other big movers for the hosts’ after taking 14 wickets collectively.

For Bangladesh, Liton Das and Mominul Haque have inched up a slot each to 32nd and 47th positions respectively, in the batting rankings while fast bowler Taskin Ahmed’s second innings haul of 6-64 has lifted him from 67th to 51st position. In the ODI bowling rankings, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has regained the top spot after Shaheen Shah Afridi was rested by Pakistan for their ongoing Zimbabwe tour.

Pakistan opener Saim Ayub’s 62-ball 113 not out has lifted him 80 places to 90th position in the ODI batting rankings, while Zimbabwe batter Sean Williams has re-entered the batting rankings at 43rd position after scores of 23 and 31 in his first two ODI matches in more than a year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from IANS) 

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