R Ashwin's Magical Spell Helps Him Climb A Spot In The ICC Player Rankings

Australian seamer Josh Hazlewood, speedster Pat Cummins, and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin have gained in the latest update of the ICC Test rankings. While Josh Hazlewood’s exemplary spell of bowling was the standout amongst all, R Ashwin’s effort did not deserve to go unnoticed. But R Ashwin’s first-innings heroics went in vain as Australia won the opening Test by eight wickets.

Josh Hazlewood’s six wickets in the match in Adelaide helped him break into the top five in the bowlers’ rankings. The 29-year old’s spell of 5-3-8-5 broke the back of India’s batting line-up as he ran through the tourists’ much-vaunted batting order to leave India recording its lowest Test score of 36. He had a significant role to play in the comeback of the hosts, who found themselves behind at the end of the second day.

Pat Cummins, who entered the series as the number one Test bowler, consolidated his spot and extended his lead over Stuart Broad by 65 points. Pat Cummins assisted the bowling line-up as well as Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, collecting eight wickets in the match. He bowled with venom and pace that left the Indian batsmen rattled in their minds.

R Ashwin zooms up; Jasprit Bumrah slips two places in the latest ICC rankings:

R Ashwin, who bowled well throughout the first Test, moved one place to ninth in the rankings while Jasprit Bumrah slipped to the tenth spot after a below-par display. The off-spinner took six wickets in the match, notably dismissing Steve Smith, Cameron Green, Travis Head, and Nathan Lyon in the first innings and claiming Matthew Wade and Marnus Labuschagne in the second. Even though Jasprit Bumrah took two wickets in the match, he fell flat as compared to the other bowlers.

Mohammed Shami also slipped down by three places to 15th as he went wicketless in the first Test and later injured himself while batting to force him out of the series. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon also dropped to 7th and 16th spot respectively. Starc took four scalps in the first innings and was without one in the second. Lyon picked up only one in the first innings and did not bowl in the second innings.

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