Despite India’s disastrous display in the first Test against the hosts in Adelaide, Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin managed to become the country’s top-ranked bowler on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test ranking.
In the rankings, Ashwin, who had match figures of 5-71, went past pacer Jasprit Bumrah to grab the ninth spot. Bumrah slipped two spots and is now tied with West Indies pacer Jason Holder at the No. 10 spots.
After 2018, for the first time, Josh Hazelwood, who destroyed the batting line up of team India with his miraculous bowling figures of 5-8 in the second innings, has made it to the top five rankings in ICC Test format. Notably, the Australian pacer went up four spots to end on No. 5.
Interestingly or rather amusingly, the Australian trio – Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood and Mitchell Starc, the men behind India’s embarrassing defeat in the 2nd innings of the Adelaide Test, are all placed in the top 7 spots in the ICC Test ranking.
Pat Cummins, who had bowling figures of 4-21 in the 2nd innings against India, extended his lead at the top of the charts to reach 910 points. He is ahead of No. 2 ranked Stuart Broad (845) by some distance.
Josh Hazlewood is at No. 5 with 805 points while Mitchell Starc is placed at No. 7 with 800 points making Australia the country that has the most number of bowlers in the Top-10.
In the ICC rankings for the batsman, Indian skipper Virat Kohli is now 9 points ahead of Kane Williamson, who is having 877 rating points. Australia batsman Steve Smith continues to rule the numero uno spot with 911 points.
Virat Kohli smashed a 74 in the first innings to help India seal a handy lead of 53 runs in the first innings against the hosts in Adelaide. Smith on the other hand did not score much against India in the Adelaide Test, but with Kohli away from Test cricket until the England series now, he has the opportunity to extend his lead.
Top 10 Test Bowlers as Per ICC Rankings
- Pat Cummins – 910
- Stuart Broad – 845
- Neil Wagner – 840
- Tim Southee – 835
- Josh Hazlewood – 805
- Kagiso Rabada – 802
- Mitchell Starc – 800
- James Anderson – 781
- R Ashwin – 777
- Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Holder – 753.
Top 10 Test Batsmen as Per ICC Rankings
- Steve Smith – 911
- Virat Kohli – 888
- Kane Williamson – 877
- Marnus Labuschagne – 839
- Babar Azam – 797
- David Warner – 793
- Ben Stokes – 760
- Cheteshwar Pujara – 755
- Joe Root – 738
- Tom Latham – 724