Ashwin reclaims pole position in ICC Test bowling rankings

New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) Veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is back at the top position in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings after finishing with a nine-wicket match haul in his 100th Test match, which happened in Dharamsala.

Ashwin returned hauls of 4-51 and 5-77 against England as India won by an innings and 64 runs in the fifth and final Test to complete a 4-1 series win, which also puts them in the top position of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship table.

Ashwin reclaimed the top spot from compatriot, fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah to start his sixth stint at the top of the rankings. He first became number one in December 2015.

Player of the Match Kuldeep Yadav, who became the fastest Indian in terms of balls bowled to take 50 Test wickets, has risen 15 places to a career-best 16th position after finishing with seven wickets in the match.

India captain Rohit Sharma (up five places to sixth) and Shubman Gill (up 11 places to a career-best 20th) have also made notable gains while Player of the Series Yashasvi Jaiswal has moved up two places to eighth place after notching a half-century in Dharamsala.

Jaiswal, the left-handed opener, aggregates 740 rating points after nine Tests, with only two batters having tallied more after as many Tests – Australians Don Bradman (752) and Mike Hussey (741). England batters Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow have moved up a slot each in the batting rankings while off-spinner Shoaib Bashir has progressed 11 places to 71st position.

On the other hand, Australia completed a 2-0 series win over New Zealand in Christchurch to take second place behind India in the WTC table. Wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey’s match-winning 98 not out sees him go up from 50th to 38th.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood continued his fine run to finish with six wickets in the match, including a five-for, to make it 35 wickets at 15.31 for the season and move to second position behind Ashwin in the bowlers’ rankings. That equals his best-ever position in the rankings, which he first achieved in February 2017.

Despite a peak bowling rating of 864 – achieved in March 2017 – Hazlewood has never been in top spot. Only Kapil Dev (877), Ryan Harris (870), Courtney Walsh (868) and Rangana Herath (866) have had higher peaks without ever reaching number one position.

New Zealand pacer Matt Henry’s superb first innings figures of seven for 67 helped him advance six places to 12th and over the 700-point mark for the first time in his career. He is also up to sixth among all-rounders.

Australia’s Mitchell Marsh (up eight places to 55th) and New Zealand players Tom Latham (up six places 35th) and Rachin Ravindra (up 10 places to 66th) are others to move up the batting rankings.

In the Men's ODI Rankings, Ireland’s Harry Tector has moved up two places to a career-best-equalling fourth position after aggregating 141 runs in the three-match series against Afghanistan while Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s series-topping 172 runs in his team’s 2-0 win, sees him move up from 24th to 22nd.

Ibrahim Zadran (up three places to 14th among batters) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (up 10 places to 41st among bowlers) have also gained in the latest update. The Men’s T20I Rankings see Muhammad Waseem move up two places to 14th among batters after scoring 68 not out. His team-mate Junaid Siddiqui moved up 14 places to 74th among bowlers after returning 4-14 as the United Arab Emirates beat Scotland in the first T20I in Dubai.

Michael Levitt of the Netherlands (up 17 places to 32nd), Najmul Hossain Shanto of Bangladesh (up two places to 33rd) and Nepal captain Rohit Paudel (up six places to 48th) are others to move up in the batting rankings. Shoriful Islam of Bangladesh (up 19 places to 39th) and Ayan Afzal Khan of the UAE (up six places to 40th) have gained in the bowling rankings.