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Following India’s 295-run victory over Australia in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has regained the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings. Aside from him, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has made significant gains, rising to a career-best second place on the batters’ list.
Bumrah took eight wickets, including five in the first innings, and was named Player of the Match in Perth, where he led India in the absence of Rohit Sharma. It has powered him beyond South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood to restore his position as Test cricket’s top bowler.
Bumrah has also established a career high of 883 rating points, the most ever recorded by an Indian fast bowler. Spinners Ravichandran Ashwin (904) and Ravindra Jadeja (899) are the only Indian bowlers with higher point totals. This is Bumrah’s third time at the top of the rankings this year, following two one-month stints in February and October.
His fellow speedster, Mohammad Siraj, has risen three spots to 25th place in the bowling rankings. Jaiswal, who scored a stunning 161 in the second innings in Perth, has overcome Harry Brook and Kane Williamson to reach a career-best second place and 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.
The West Indies advanced in the rankings after defeating Bangladesh by 201 runs in the first Test at North Sound, Antigua. Batter Alick Athanaze has jumped 18 places to 62nd place 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 significant gains.
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 also notable movers for the hosts, having taken 14 wickets combined.
Liton Das and Mominul Haque of Bangladesh have moved up one spot to 32nd and 47th in the batting rankings, respectively, while fast bowler Taskin Ahmed’s second innings haul of 6-64 has moved him from 67th to 51st. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has regained the top spot in the ODI bowling rankings after Pakistan rested Shaheen Shah Afridi for their upcoming Zimbabwe tour.
Pakistan opener Saim Ayub’s 62-ball 113 not out has moved him up 80 places to 90th in the ODI batting rankings, while Zimbabwe batsman Sean Williams has re-entered the rankings at 43rd after scoring 23 and 31 in his first two ODIs in more than a year.
Source: IANS
