ICC Test Rankings: Ravindra Jadeja Becomes Number One All-rounder

The brilliant all-round show in the second Test against Sri Lanka at Colombo has helped Ravindra Jadeja leapfrog Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan to become the top-ranked Test allrounder in the world for the first time.  The left-arm spinner is also the leading bowler in the Tests as per the latest player rankings released on Tuesday (August 8).

The 28-year old scored an unbeaten 70 in the first innings and took 7 wickets including 5 in the second innings as India clinched the three-match series by winning the match by an innings and 53 runs.

Jadeja walked into bat in the first innings when the score was 496 for 7 and forged useful partnerships with Wriddhiman Saha and tail-enders, scoring an unbeaten half-century to propel India to a mammoth 622 for 9 (declared). In the second innings, he made even a bigger impact to help India win the Test inside 4 days. At 241 for 3, Sri Lanka were looking set to score big but Jadeja ran through their lineup to quash their hopes. The southpaw, who recently became the fastest left-arm bowler to 150 Test wickets, took 5 wickets including the wickets of skipper Dinesh Chandimal, centurion Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his brilliant allround show.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have also moved up in the ICC Test Player Rankings for batsmen after scoring fine centuries in the Test. The 133-run knock has helped Pujara to a career-high 888 points and third position while Rahane, who scored 132, has moved from 11th to fifth position.

Meanwhile, England allrounder Moeen Ali has also been rewarded for his splendid show in the Old Trafford Test against South Africa which England won by 177 runs. His fine all-round show has propelled him to a career-best spot in the rankings for batsmen, bowler and allrounder. In addition to scoring a vital 77 runs in the second innings he also took 7 wickets in the match including a fifer in the second innings to help England clinch the series 3-1.

As a result, he has jumped three places to 21st in the batsmen’s list while retained his 18th position in the bowlers’ rankings. In the allrounder’s list, he is at number 4.