No Indian batsman in Top 10 of ICC Test rankings

Cheteshwar Pujara breaks into Top 20 of ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the first time in his career

Fast bowler Ishant Sharma up three places to 18 in bowlers' list.

Virat Kohli dropped a rung to No 11, leaving India with no batsman in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

In the latest rankings update, issued by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday, Cheteshwar Pujara broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career following the conclusion of the Colombo Test, which India won by 117 runs to clinch the series 2-1.

The 27-year-old batsman carried his bat in the first innings and returned unbeaten on 145, his seventh career century, which was the cornerstone of India’s first innings score of 312. He was rewarded for the performance with a jump of four places, which puts him at No 20.

Pujara is now the second Indian batsman to feature in the top 20, but following Kohli’s drop to 11th (down by one place), the fifth-ranked Test team has no batsman inside the Top 10.

Apart from Pujara, there were few other middle-order batsmen who made significant contributions to India’s cause at the Singhalese Sports Club, which, in turn, helped them to head in the right direction.

Rohit Sharma moved up two places to 48th, Ravichandran Ashwin gained five places and is now at No 50, while Amit Mishra, who scored 59 in the first innings and featured in a 104 runs eighth-wicket partnership with Pujara, vaulted 56 places to 91st.

It was a disappointing Test for Sri Lanka's batsmen, but Angelo Mathews retained his No 5 ranking following his seventh career century (110 in the second innings). He is now 11 points adrift of fourth-ranked South Africa captain Hashim Amla.

Meanwhile, there were no changes to the top 10 of the Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

However, there was improvement for Ishant Sharma, who reached the 200-wicket mark after claiming match figures of eight for 86 in the third Test against Sri Lanka. As a result, the fast bowler moved up three places to 18th.

Amit Mishra’s three for 72 in the match elevated him two places to a career-high No 37, while Umesh Yadav also improved his ranking by two places to 42.

The Sri Lanka trio of Dhammika Prasad (up three places to 22nd), Nuwan Pradeep (up 12 to 57th) and Mathews (up two to 71st) also all made career-high gains.

ICC Test rankings (as on September 2, following the Sri Lanka vs India Test series):

ICC TEST PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 2 September, after Sri Lanka-India series):

BATSMEN:

Selected rankings:

BOWLERS:

Selected rankings:

All-rounders:

(* 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.)