Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill rise in ICC Test Ranking; Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli witness a decline

Good news for all the Indian cricket fans has come through today, 2-3 days after the Indian team claimed victory over England by 106 runs at the ACA-VDCA stadium in the 2nd Test to bring the 5-match Test series back on level terms.

The good news is that opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal along with number 3 batter Shubman Gill who played blistering knocks in the 2nd Test, have surged higher in the latest ICC Men’s Test batsman rankings.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has climbed a whopping 37 places higher to number 29,  Gill rose 14 spots higher to become world number 38. Notably, Indian senior batters – captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli experienced drop downs in the rankings as the former went from 12 to 13th while the latter went from number 6 to 7 in the red-ball batting rankings.

While Virat Kohli had opted himself out of the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam, Rohit Sharma continued experiencing the sudden slump in his form which has now extended to 8 innings without a half-century or a 40+ score.

Rohit’s last notable knock came during the 2-match Test series in West Indies last year as he had scores of 106 (1st Test), 80 and 57 (2nd Test).

Yashasvi Jaiswal And Shubman Gill Rewarded For Their Performance In 2nd Test

His opening partner, the 22-year-old baby assassin Yashasvi Jaiswal has been in a terrific role. He has led the Indian batting line-up from the front and has been the hosts’ best performer with the bat across both Tests.

In the 1st Test, Jaiswal who was batting in his first ever Test match on home soil, displayed the first glimpses of Jaisball with his attacking 80 off 74 in the 2nd innings before switching off in the 4th innings for a score of 15.

Then in the 2nd Test, Yashasvi Jaiswal converted the form he picked in the 1st Test into a full-fledged battering of the England bowlers. The UP-born batter smacked his maiden Test double hundred in just his 3rd innings in India to help his side gain early momentum by posting 396 as the 1st innings total.

He couldn’t replicate that performance in the 3rd innings but that was when 1st down batter Shubman Gill stood up. The under fire Punjab-born batter was in dire need of scoring runs in the 2nd Test otherwise his place from the playing XI could have been cut.

Finding himself under pressure, Gill smacked a 104 off 149 before choosing to get out foolishly by attempting to play the reverse sweep. Both Gill and Jaiswal have been rewarded by the ICC Test rankings for their excellent performances a couple of days ago with the right-hander becoming world no. 38 and the left-hander becoming world no. 29.

Elsewhere in the rankings, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has climbed to the summit with a rating of 864 whereas Steve Smith has climbed a spot higher to number 2nd with a rating of 818. Englishman Joe Root (797), Kiwi Daryl Mitchell (786), and Pakistan’s Babar Azam (768) form the top 5.

Usman Khawaja, Virat Kohli, Harry Brook, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Marnus Labuschagne conclude at the top of the ICC Test batter rankings.