ICC Test Rankings: Ravindra Jadeja Maintains Top Position, Ravichandran Ashwin Rises To Second Spot

Ravichandran Ashwin has regained the second place in the latest ICC ranking for Test bowlers after taking four wickets in India’s huge 304-run win over Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle. The off-spinner had managed just 1 wicket in the first innings but took three in the second including that of Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella. While Karunaratne was Sri Lanka’s top-scorer with 97, Dickwella was the only other batsman to score a half-century.

Ashwin rising to the second place means the first two places in the list belong to Indian bowlers with Ravindra Jadeja leading the rankings. The Indian spinners are followed by Rangana Herath, James Anderson and Josh Hazlewood in the top 5. Fast bowler Mohammad Shami has gained one slot to reach 23rd rank.

In the batting rankings, opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan  has jumped 21 positions to move to 39th position after his career-best 190-run knock in the Galle Test. Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 153 in the first innings at Galle, is the highest-ranked Indian batsman in the list at fourth position followed by captain Virat Kohli who is at fifth after scoring an unbeaten 103 in the second innings. The batting list is led by Australia’s Steve Smith.

England allrounder Ben Stokes has attained his career-best batting as well as bowling ranking after his brilliant allround show in the third Test against South Africa. In addition to scoring a stunning 112 runs in the first innings, the 26-year old also took 3 wickets in the match.

“Stokes has moved up 12 places to joint-25th position in the rankings for batsmen with scores of 112 and 31, while also gaining two places to reach 19th position in the list for bowlers after grabbing one for 26 and two for 51. His effort also sees him overtake South Africa’s Vernon Philander to take fifth position in the list of all-rounders,” the ICC said in the release.

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan retained his numero uno position in the allrounder’s list and is followed by Jadeja and Ashwin at second and third position respectively.