Ashwin reclaims top spot in Test Bowlers rankings
[caption id="attachment_23152" align="alignnone" width="580"] Ravichandran Ashwin has reclaimed the top spot in ICC Bowlers rankings.[/caption] 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