Sri Lanka's six players soar to new heights in ICC Test Players Rankings after historic win over England
Published - 11 Sep 2024, 05:48 PM | Updated - 11 Sep 2024, 11:40 PM
Sri Lanka sent a strong statement to the cricket world, as their six players have reached career-best ratings in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after their stunning performances in England.
Recently, the Sri Lanka cricket team recorded their first-ever Test victory over England in England. The Islanders might have lost the three-match Test series 2-1 to England, but they were outstanding in the series.
Lanka defeated England by eight wickets in the third and final game at The Oval to script history, and their overall show helped them to gain big in the late ICC Test Rankings.
Six Sri Lanka players achieve career-high ICC Test rankings after historic win over England
Lanka’s Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva led from the front with an important knock of 69 runs in the first innings. His good form propelled him to a career-best 13th position in the ICC Test Batter Rankings, which is the highest among all Sri Lankan batters presently.
De Silva has now become the top-ranked Sri Lanka batter in Test cricket. Meanwhile, middle-order dynamo Kamindu Mendis and opener Pathum Nissanka also made strong gains in the ICC Test Batter Rankings.
Mendis jumped six places to 19th on the back of his very crucial half-century in the final Test, while the magnificent knock 64 and 127* have propelled Nissanka a massive 42 places to 39th in the latest rankings.
Well, England batters suffered setbacks, with only Joe Root remaining at the top in the latest ICC Test Batter Rankings. Harry Brook slipped to 12th, but the stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s first-innings century earned him a seven-place boost, now tied for 27th on the rankings.
Jamie Smith made gains too, leaping six places to 30th after his quickfire half-century in the second inning in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka. Among the bowlers, Sri Lanka’s Vishwa Fernando gained 13 places to 31st after his five-wicket haul against England.
Lahiru Kumara's 10-place gain took him to 32nd position, while Milan Rathnayake made a spectacular leap of 26 places to reach the 84th spot in the latest rankings for the bowlers. England's Olly Stone gained 13 places to reach 74th following his three-wicket haul in the first innings at The Oval.
Rohit Sharma becomes top Indian batter in the ICC Test Players Rankings
On the other hand, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, and batting maestro Virat Kohli have all made one jump to attain the numbers five, six, and seven in the latest ICC Test Rankings for the batters. Rohit is the top Indian batter in the latest Test rankings.
In the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin remained the top-ranked Test bowler, while Jasprit Bumrah’s position as the joint second-ranked bowler along with Josh Hazlewood remained intact in the latest Test rankings announced by the ICC on Wednesday.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin are still the top two all-rounders in the updated Test rankings. Notably, all these top players will be seen in action in the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, starting on September 19 in Chennai.
