Ashwin reclaims top spot in Test Bowlers rankings

Ashwin 1
Ravichandran Ashwin has reclaimed the top spot in ICC Bowlers rankings.

Internet Desk: Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has surged to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers with a career-best haul of 13-140 in the final Test that helped defeat New Zealand by a massive 321 runs, India’s second biggest victory in terms of runs.

Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests. Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.

Ashwin, who finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year, has joined a select band to have touched a rating of 900 points since 2000, the others being Muttiah Muralidaran, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen led by Australia captain Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane has attained a career-best sixth-rank with scores of 188 and 23 not out. Rahane, whose previous best was eighth rank in August this year, has gained five slots after starting the match at 11th position.

The Indore Test also saw Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli move up the rankings. Pujara’s knocks of 41 and 101 not out have helped him move up one place to 14th rank while Kohli’s scores of 211 and 17 at Indore have helped him move up four places to 16th position.

In the all-rounders’ list, India’s Ravindra Jadeja has reached a career-best joint-third rank.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 October after the India-New Zealand series)

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         ( – )        Joe Root               Eng        878       54.86     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3         (+1)       Hashim Amla      SA         847       51.16     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

4         (+1)       Younus Khan       Pak        845       53.72     880 v SL at Lahore 2009

5         (-2)        Kane Williamson NZ         841       50.31     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

6         (+5)       Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         825!      51.37     825 v NZ at Indore 2016

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

(-1)        AB de Villiers     SA         802       50.46     935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

9         (-1)        David Warner      Aus        772       48.63     880 v NZ at Perth 2015

10        (-1)        Alastair Cook      Eng        770       47.31     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

Bowlers (Top 10)

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

1         (+2)       R. Ashwin            Ind         900!      24.29     900 v NZ at Indore 2016

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

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         (+1)       Yasir Shah           Pak        806*     27.48      878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

7         (-1)        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         805*     23.52     809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016

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

9         (+1)       Neil Wagner        NZ         731*     29.63     760 v SA at Centurion 2016

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