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Move over Steyn... Ashwin ready to reclaim No. 1 ranking!

September 27, 2016 12:48 IST

- Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara eye top 10 places while Ravindra Jadeja jumps to career-best third position among Test all-rounders

- India just a victory away from reclaiming the ICC Test Championship mace

Ravichandran Ashwin

IMAGE: Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates a wicket during the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. Photograph: BCCI

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson have climbed up one place each to reach second position among bowlers and batsmen, respectively, in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning.

Ashwin’s match haul of 10-225, that helped notch a 197-run victory in the first Test in Kanpur on Monday, has seen him overtake England’s James Anderson by one point. He is now within seven points of number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa, who leads the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers with 878 points.

Another strong performance in the Kolkata Test, which starts on Friday, will potentially see Ashwin top the bowling charts for the second time in 2016 after first claiming the number-one position last year following the Boxing Day Tests.

Williamson has similarly edged England’s Joe Root by one point with innings of 75 and 25 to reach 879 points in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which is led by Australia captain Steve Smith with 906 points.

However, to move ahead or edge even closer to Smith, Williamson will have to produce strong performances in the remaining two Tests.

Ashwin also contributed with a useful innings of 40 to consolidate his position at the top of the list of all-rounders. Ashwin has reached a career-best rating of 450, opening up a 66-point gap with second-placed Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.

Kane Williamson

IMAGE: New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson hits out during the first Test in Kanpur. Photograph: BCCI

There was not much to cheer for other New Zealand batsmen apart from Williamson, but for India, opener Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara made significant gains.

Vijay and Pujara, who became the first Indian pair in 10 years to notch century partnerships in both innings of a Test match, moved up from joint-20th position to joint-16th position.

Other Indian batsmen to move up were Lokesh Rahul, who gained five ranks to reach 57th position, and Rohit Sharma, who gained two slots to reach 52nd rank.

Victory in its 500th Test means India is now one victory away from reclaiming the ICC Test Championship mace from Pakistan. India had entered the series trailing Pakistan by one point and needed to win the series to move ahead of its traditional rival.

Unlike the ODI and T20I team rankings, the Test rankings are only updated at the end of a series.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 27 September, after the first Test between India and New Zealand):

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         (+1)       K.Williamson      NZ         879       51.05    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   3         (-1)        Joe Root               Eng        878       54.86    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         ( - )        Hashim Amla      SA         847       51.16    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5         ( - )        Younus Khan       Pak        845       53.72    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   6=       ( - )        Adam Voges        Aus        802*     72.75    824 v SL at Galle 2016

              ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         802       50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   8         (+1)       David Warner      Aus        772       48.63    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   9         (+1)       Alastair Cook      Eng        770       47.31    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  10        (+1)       Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        764       48.27    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      Highest Rating

11          (-3)        Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         760        48.00     785 v WI at Trinidad 2016

15          (-1)        Ross Taylor         NZ         706        47.19     871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

16=        (+4)       Murali Vijay        Ind         695       41.46     747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

              (+4)       C. Pujara              Ind         695       47.67     851 v SA at Durban 2013

20          (-4)        Virat Kohli          Ind         680       44.21     784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

44          (+2)       R.Ashwin             Ind         517       34.39     527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      Highest Rating

   1         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         878       22.24     909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   2         (+1)       R.Ashwin             Ind         871       25.06     876 v WI at Antigua 2016

   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         ( - )        Yasir Shah           Pak        806*     27.48      878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

   7         (+1)       Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         798*!    23.29     798 v NZ at Kanpur 2016

   8         (-1)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        792!      27.36     792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

   9         ( - )        Neil Wagner        NZ         746*     29.50     760 v SA at Centurion 2016

  10=      (+1)       V.Philander         SA         723       22.09     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

              ( - )        Trent Boult          NZ         723       29.40     825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                Team      Pts        Avge      Highest Rating

21          (-1)        Ishant Sharma      Ind         579       36.71     671 v WI at Dominica 2011

25          ( - )        M. Shami             Ind         541*!    33.93     541 v NZ at Kanpur 2016

30          (-1)        Umesh Yadav      Ind         472*     35.86     509 v WI at Antigua 2016

40          (+1)       Mark Craig          NZ         388*     46.52     405 v Aus at Wellington 2016

47          (+12)     Mitchell Santner NZ         333*!    30.55     333 v Ind at Kanpur 2016

52=        (+5)       Ish Sodhi              NZ         307*!    46.68     307 v Ind at Kanpur 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Highest Rating

 1           ( - )        R.Ashwin             Ind         450!      450 v NZ at Kanpur 2016

2           ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

3=         (+5)       Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         292*/*! 292 v NZ at Kanpur 2016

              ( - )        Moeen Ali           Eng        292 /*!  292 v Pak at The Oval 2016

5           (-1)        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