India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after a superb outing in the first Test against the West Indies in Antigua which the visiting side won by an innings and 92 runs.
Ashwin, who was top-ranked in the 2015 year-ending rankings, not only regained the top spot with his second-innings haul of seven for 83 but has also gained in the batsmen’s rankings with a knock of 113 and resultantly strengthened his grip on the top spot among all-rounders.
Ashwin has replaced Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who had grabbed the number-one ranking for bowlers only last week with a 10-wicket haul in the opening Test against England at Lord’s. Yasir, who could take only one wicket in the second Test at Old Trafford, has dropped to fifth place below James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Dale Steyn.
Ashwin has gained five points following his performance in the Antigua Test, while Anderson has earned seven points. This means the pre-Test gap between the two bowlers has been trimmed from three points to just one point only.
In contrast, Yasir has conceded 46 points and now trails number-one ranked Ashwin by 44 points.
Chris Woakes has jumped up 10 places to 23rd rank after his match-haul of seven for 108 at Old Trafford which contributed in England’s 330 runs victory that levelled the four-match series 1-1. India pace bowler Umesh Yadav has gained six places to reach 24th rank with five wickets in Antigua while his new-ball partner Mohammad Shami has returned to the rankings at 28th place.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, England’s Joe Root and Alastair Cook have reaped the benefits of solid knocks to gain two and four places, respectively. Root’s 254 and 71 not out has taken him to second position while Cook’s 105 and 76 not out have helped him return to the top-10, in ninth position.
India captain Virat Kohli’s 200 at Antigua, which set the base for his side’s biggest win outside Asia, has helped him move up two places to 12th place while opener Shikhar Dhawan has gained four places after a knock of 84.
Ashwin has moved up three places to 45th rank among batsmen after his third Test century (113) against the West Indies. Ashwin, only the third Indian to be top-ranked among all-rounders after Vinoo Mankad and Kapil Dev, has increased the gap with second-placed Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. Ashwin has moved up from 406 points to a career-best 427 points and created a 43-point gap with Shakib.
ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 26 July after the Antigua and Old Trafford Tests):
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 925 60.18 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
2 (+2) Joe Root Eng 901 56.15 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 (-1) K.Williamson NZ 868 49.23 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 860 51.45 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 818 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
6 ( - ) Adam Voges Aus 811*! 95.50 811 v NZ at Christchurch 2016
7 (+1) David Warner Aus 800 50.06 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
8 (+1) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 790 48.95 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
9 (+4) Alastair Cook Eng 788 47.48 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
10 (-4) Younus Khan Pak 784 53.19 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
12 (+2) Virat Kohli Ind 757 46.28 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
13 (-2) Asad Shafiq Pak 738 43.15 758 v Eng at Lord's 2016
16 ( - ) Jonny Bairstow Eng 712! 40.13 712 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016
17 (+1) Murali Vijay Ind 679 40.56 747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015
18= (-1) Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 678 43.71 715 v SL at Galle 2015
(+1) C. Pujara Ind 678 46.84 851 v SA at Durban 2013
22= (+2) M. Hafeez Pak 626 40.11 642 v Eng at Sharjah 2015
25 (-4) Azhar Ali Pak 621 41.75 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
26 (-3) Darren Bravo WI 611 40.66 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012
30= (+2) K. Brathwaite WI 581 34.54 591 v Eng at Grenada 2015
(+4) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 581* 42.18 593 v SL at Galle 2015
45 (+3) R. Ashwin Ind 488 33.76 527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
1 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 876! 25.11 876 v WI at Antigua 2016
2 (+1) James Anderson Eng 875 28.23 884 v SL at Durham 2016
3 (+1) Stuart Broad Eng 852 28.42 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
4 (+1) Dale Steyn SA 841 22.53 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
5 (-4) Yasir Shah Pak 832* 25.79 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
6 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 781* 23.76 789 v SA at Delhi 2015
7 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 757 29.14 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
8 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 741* 25.77 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
9 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 724 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
10 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 717 22.08 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
20 ( - ) Ishant Sharma Ind 572 37.06 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
21 ( - ) Kemar Roach WI 568 30.23 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
22 ( - ) Steven Finn Eng 546 29.40 624 v NZ at Headingley 2013
24 (+6) Umesh Yadav Ind 509*! 34.24 509 v WI at Antigua 2016
25 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 508*! 37.58 508 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016
26 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 504* 40.42 557 v SA at Durban 2015
28 (RE) M. Shami Ind 470*! 35.11 470 v WI at Antigua 2016
33 (+5) Wahab Riaz Pak 432*! 35.16 432 v Eng at Old Trafford 2016
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 427! 427 v WI at Antigua 2016
2 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
3= ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 275 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
(+1) V. Philander SA 275*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
5 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 270 /* 276 v SA at Centurion 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
