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Hyderabad high vaults Ashwin to career-best ranking
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's match haul of 12 for 85 against New Zealand in the first Test in Hyderabad helped him vault 19 places to a career-best 25 in the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, which were released on Monday.
Ashwin's spells of six for 31 and six for 54 led his side to an innings and 115 runs victory, and also fetched him the player of the match award. This win also gave India a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series.
His overall rating of 542 is also his career-best.
Ashwin backed up his bowling performance with a handy knock of 37 in India's total of 438.
The show with the bat helped him move up by three places to 78 in the rankings for Test batsmen, while the combined performance with the bat and the ball gave him a career-high 12th position (up 14 places) in the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders.
Ojha jumps six places to No. 15
Ashwin's team-mate, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who ended with a match haul of six for 92, has also jumped six places to No 15, which is also his career-best ranking.
Ojha's overall rating of 624 is also his best-ever.
Zaheer Khan, who went wicketless in the match, dropped two places to 14 while his pace partner Umesh Yadav moved up two places to 47.
For New Zealand, off-spinner Jeetan Patel, who finished with figures of four for 100, jumped seven places to 52.
South Africa's Dale Steyn still heads the rankings for Test bowlers, with teammate Vernon Philander and Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan in second and third places respectively.
Pujara, new entrant in ICC rankings for Test batsmen
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara, the only centurion in the Hyderabad Test, re-entered rankings for Test batsmen in 58th place.
The India batsmen to make upward movement are MS Dhoni in 40th (up three) and Virat Kohli, who is in now in 49th (up two).
Kane Williamson, New Zealand's top-scorer in the Test, is now in 39th position (up eight) while Brendon McCullum moved up a place to No 25.
Sachin Tendulkar dropped out of the top 10 and is now in 11th place while Suresh Raina slipped seven places to 80.
New Zealand's James Franklin re-entered the rankings in 93rd position, while his team-mates Ross Taylor in 18th (down by six), Martin Guptill in 37th (down by five), Daniel Flynn in 79th (down by two) and Kruger van Wyk in 100th (down by 11) dropped down in the latest rankings.
Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara remains the top-ranked batsman, followed by South Africa's Hashim Amla and West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul in second and third positions respectively.
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan with South Africa's Jacques Kallis in second spot.