Pujara, Kohli unchanged in Test rankings

Dubai : India’s Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli remained static at the fourth and fifth position respectively in the latest ICC Test Players Rankings for batsmen, issued today. However, young batsman KL Rahul slipped a rung to 10th.

The batsmen chart is being led by Australia skipper Steve Smith, followed by England captain Joe Root and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. Among Indian bowlers, left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja maintained his top spot while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin occupies the third place.

James Anderson is in the second spot in the Test bowlers rankings and the England pacer is followed by Ashwin, Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and Australian Josh Hazlewood. Jadeja (2nd) and Ashwin (3rd) also feature in the top five all-rounders rankings, led by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who consolidated his position with a great show in the historic win over Australia in the opening Test.

Among others, West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope have attained career-best positions in the Test Player Rankings after their splendid performances in Leeds helped the Windies complete a series-levelling win against England. The Barbados pair, which orchestrated a 322-run chase for an unforgettable five-wicket victory, gained massively in the latest rankings that also takes into account the opening Test in Dhaka which saw Bangladesh pull off a 20-run win over Australia yesterday.

Opener Brathwaite has risen 14 slots to 16th position after his innings of 134 and 95 in the second Test of the three-match series while Hope’s knocks of 147 and 118 not out, the first pair of centuries in any first-class game at Headingley, have helped him secure a massive gain of 60 places to reach 42nd position.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has gained in both batting (up four places to 57th) and bowling (up two places to 37th) rankings while pace bowler Shannon Gabriel has gained two slots to reach 18th position after taking six wickets in the match. For England, Ben Stokes’s first-innings century has seen him move up two positions to 23rd place among batsmen while Chris Woakes has gained 10 slots to reach 74th position.

Meanwhile, Australia opener David Warner has returned to the top 10 after a valiant century. Warner’s partnership of 130 for the third wicket with captain Smith could not prevent Bangladesh from scoring its first ever Test win over Australia, but the left-hander had the satisfaction of moving up five slots to the sixth position after scores of eight and 112.

For Bangladesh, opener Tamim Iqbal’s two innings of 71 and 78 have lifted him six places to a career-best 14th position, while star all-rounder Shakib has moved up three slots to a career-best 14th position among bowlers after his match haul of 10 for 153 at Mirpur. His fellow spinners Mehedi Hasan (up three places to 30th) and Taijul Islam (up four places to 32nd) have also moved up after finishing the match with five and four wickets, respectively.