An unbeaten double-century from Alastair Cook has earned him a spot in top 10 of MRF Tyres ICC Player Ranking for Test batsmen. The list was released after the culmination of Melbourne and Port Elizabeth Test.
The veteran left-handed opener Cook notched up an unbeaten score of 244 runs in his side’s first innings score of 491. Cook jumped nine places to be at the eighth spot at the end of the year. South Africa’s Hashim Amla is tied at the seventh position with 17 points ahead from the former England captain.
Australian skipper Steve Smith claims sole possession of second place for the highest-ever ranking points. Smith bagged two points for his efforts in Melbourne and is now 14 points behind Don Bradman (961) and two points ahead of Len Hutton (945) on the all-time list.
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Smith’s scores of 76 and 102 not out have strengthened his place at the top.
Cook was at the fifteenth spot at the start of this while he started the Ashes at 10.
England skipper Joe Root moved one place to be at joint fourth with his counterpart from New Zealand Kane Williamson. Root and Williamson started the year on the third and fourth spot respectively.
David Warner, who started the year in the fifth position is currently at six with his scores of 103 and 86 that earned him 30 points.
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There is no change in first nine spots for the MRF Tyres ICC Mens Ranking for Test Bowlers with England’s James Anderson topping the chart. Anderson had started the year with 810 points in the sixth position and had finished on 892 points in the number-one spot.
While the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rangana Herath finished the year at the third, fourth, and sixth places, respectively, while Australia’s Josh Hazlewood started and finished in the fifth spot.
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South African fast bowler Morne Morkel returns in 10th position with a fifer against Zimbabwe in the four-day Test.
All-rounder from Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan is the number-one ranked all-rounder, and India’s Ravindra Jadeja follows him.
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Average
1 Steve Smith Aus 947 63.55
2 Virat Kohli Ind 893 53.75
3 C. Pujara Ind 873 52.96
4= Kane Williamson NZ 855 50.62
Joe Root Eng 855 52.45
6 David Warner Aus 831 48.72
7 Hashim Amla SA 776 49.61
8 Alastair Cook Eng 759 46.52
9 Azhar Ali Pak 755 46.62
10 D. Chandimal SL 743 43.94
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Average
2 Kagiso Rabada SA 883 22.29
3 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 870 23.73
4 R.Ashwin Ind 829 25.44
5 Josh Hazlewood Aus 819 25.60
6 Rangana Herath SL 799 28.04
7 Neil Wagner NZ 784 27.87
8 Mitchell Starc Aus 774 27.52
9 Nathan Lyon Aus 771 31.60
10 Morne Morkel SA 753 28.45