Ashwin regains top spot in bowlers’ rankings after Antigua Test

Ashwin, who was top-ranked in the 2015 year-ending rankings, not only regained the top spot with his second-innings haul of seven for 83 but has also gained in the batsmen’s rankings with a knock of 113 and resultantly strengthened his grip on the top spot among all-rounders.

Ashwin has replaced Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who had grabbed the number-one ranking for bowlers only last week with a 10-wicket haul in the opening Test against England at Lord’s. Yasir, who could take only one wicket in the second Test at Old Trafford, has dropped to fifth place below James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Dale Steyn.
 
Ashwin has gained five points following his performance in the Antigua Test, while Anderson has earned seven points. This means the pre-Test gap between the two bowlers has been trimmed from three points to just one point only.

In contrast, Yasir has conceded 46 points and now trails number-one ranked Ashwin by 44 points.

Chris Woakes has jumped up 10 places to 23rd rank after his match-haul of seven for 108 at Old Trafford which contributed in England’s 330 runs victory that levelled the four-match series 1-1. India pace bowler Umesh Yadav has gained six places to reach 24th rank with five wickets in Antigua while his new-ball partner Mohammad Shami has returned to the rankings at 28th place.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, England’s Joe Root and Alastair Cook have reaped the benefits of solid knocks to gain two and four places, respectively. Root’s 254 and 71 not out has taken him to second position while Cook’s 105 and 76 not out have helped him return to the top-10, in ninth position.

 India captain Virat Kohli’s 200 at Antigua, which set the base for his side’s biggest win outside Asia, has helped him move up two places to 12th place while opener Shikhar Dhawan has gained four places after a knock of 84.

Ashwin has moved up three places to 45th rank among batsmen after his third Test century (113) against the West Indies. Ashwin, only the third Indian to be top-ranked among all-rounders after Vinoo Mankad and Kapil Dev, has increased the gap with second-placed Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh. Ashwin has moved up from 406 points to a career-best 427 points and created a 43-point gap with Shakib.
 
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 26 July after the Antigua and Old Trafford Tests)

 

Batsmen (top 10)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts           Avge    HS Rating

   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        925         60.18   936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2         (+2)       Joe Root               Eng        901         56.15   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3         (-1)        K.Williamson      NZ         868         49.23   893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4         (-1)        Hashim Amla      SA         860         51.45   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5         ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         818         50.46   935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   6         ( - )        Adam Voges        Aus        811*!      95.50   811 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

   7         (+1)       David Warner      Aus        800        50.06   880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   8         (+1)       Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        790         48.95   842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

   9         (+4)       Alastair Cook      Eng        788         47.48   874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  10        (-4)        Younus Khan       Pak        784         53.19   880 v SL at Lahore 2009

 

Other selected rankings

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts           Avge    HS Rating

12          (+2)       Virat Kohli          Ind         757         46.28   784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

13          (-2)        Asad Shafiq         Pak        738         43.15   758 v Eng at Lord's 2016

16          ( - )        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        712!       40.13    712 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016

17          (+1)       Murali Vijay        Ind         679         40.56   747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

18=        (-1)        Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        678         43.71   715 v SL at Galle 2015

              (+1)       C. Pujara              Ind         678         46.84   851 v SA at Durban 2013

22=        (+2)       M. Hafeez            Pak        626         40.11   642 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

25          (-4)        Azhar Ali             Pak        621         41.75   753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

26          (-3)        Darren Bravo       WI         611         40.66   709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

30=        (+2)       K. Brathwaite      WI         581         34.54   591 v Eng at Grenada 2015

              (+4)       Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         581*       42.18   593 v SL at Galle 2015

45          (+3)       R. Ashwin            Ind         488         33.76   527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

 

Bowlers (top 10)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

   1         (+1)       R. Ashwin            Ind         876!      25.11    876 v WI at Antigua 2016

   2         (+1)       James Anderson  Eng        875       28.23    884 v SL at Durham 2016

  3         (+1)       Stuart Broad        Eng        852       28.42    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

   4         (+1)       Dale Steyn           SA         841       22.53    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   5         (-4)        Yasir Shah           Pak        832*     25.79    878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

   6         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         781*     23.76    789 v SA at Delhi 2015

   7         ( - )        Trent Boult          NZ         757       29.14    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   8         ( - )        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        741*     25.77    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

   9         ( - )        Morne Morkel     SA         724       29.33    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  10        ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         717       22.08    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

 

Other selected rankings

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                 Team     Pts         Avge     HS Rating

  20        ( - )        Ishant Sharma      Ind         572       37.06    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  21        ( - )        Kemar Roach       WI         568       30.23    774 v SA at Centurion 2014

  22        ( - )        Steven Finn         Eng        546       29.40    624 v NZ at Headingley 2013

  24        (+6)       Umesh Yadav      Ind         509*!    34.24    509 v WI at Antigua 2016

  25        (-1)        Ben Stokes           Eng        508*!    37.58    508 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016

  26        (-1)        Moeen Ali           Eng        504*     40.42    557 v SA at Durban 2015

  28        (RE)       M. Shami             Ind         470*!    35.11    470 v WI at Antigua 2016

  33        (+5)       Wahab Riaz         Pak        432*!    35.16    432 v Eng at Old Trafford 2016

 

All-rounders (top five)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         HS Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         427!      427 v WI at Antigua 2016

   2         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   3=       ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        275       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

              (+1)       V. Philander        SA         275*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   5         ( - )        Ben Stokes           Eng        270 /*   276 v SA at Centurion 2016

 

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating

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