Kraigg Brathwaite surges into top 20 of ICC Test rankings for first time

Brathwaite, who became the first opener to remain unbeaten in both innings of a Test match with scores of 142 and 60, has gained 13 places to reach a career-best 19th rank while helping the West Indies pull one back in the series that Pakistan won 2-1.

Pakistan, which was top-ranked till India overtook it last month, has lost two points in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings despite the series win because it went in with a 44-point lead over the West Indies and the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference.

But Pakistan remains in second position with 109 points, six points behind India and just one point ahead of third-placed Australia.

The West Indies has gained two points to reach 69 points and remains in eighth position.

Brathwaite was not the only West Indies batsman to gain in the rankings led by Australia captain Steve Smith as wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich has gained 27 slots to reach a career-best 58th position.

He scored 47 and 60 not out and figured in an unbroken stand of 87 with Brathwaite to see the team through to a target of 153 in Sharjah.

For Pakistan, which has four batsmen in the top-20 – Younus Khan (fifth), captain Misbah-ul-Haq (10th), opener Azhar Ali (12th) and Asad Shafiq (17th), Sami Aslam moved up two positions to a career-best 60th position after scores of 74 and 17 in Sharjah.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer has moved up 24 places to a career-best 86th rank after scores of 102 not out and 43 in the first Test of a two-match series against Sri Lanka which ended in Harare on Wednesday.

Hamilton Masakadza too has gained one place to reach 42nd position after scores of 33 and 20, while for Sri Lanka, Dimuth Karunaratne has moved up 10 places to reach 41st rank and Kaushal Silva has moved up one place to 40th position.

Karunaratne made 56 and 110 in Harare while Silva had scores of 94 and seven.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers led by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz has gained four places to reach a career-best 24th rank.

The left-arm pace bowler took seven wickets in Sharjah, including a haul of five for 88 in the first innings.

For the West Indies, leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo has gained seven places to reach a career-best 29th rank after taking seven wickets in the match while captain Jason Holder’s haul of five for 30 in the second innings has helped him move up 12 positions to 47th rank.

Sri Lanka captain Rangana Herath has retained his fourth position in the rankings with six wickets in the match, while for Zimbabwe, Carl Mumba has moved up one position to 76thrank.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 4 November 2016, after the Pakistan-West Indies Test series)

  Rank Team              Points

1.     India                  115

2.     Pakistan             109 (-2)

3.     Australia            108

4.     England             105

5.     South Africa        96

6.     Sri Lanka             95

7.     New Zealand        91

8.     West Indies          69 (+2)

9.     Bangladesh          65

10.  Zimbabwe             8

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 4 November 2016, after the third Test between Pakistan and West Indies and the first Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka)

Batsmen (top 20)

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

   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        906       58.55    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2         (+1)       Hashim Amla      SA         847       51.16    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   3         (+1)       K.Williamson      NZ         841       50.31    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4         (+1)       Joe Root               Eng        834       53.28    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   5         (-3)        Younus Khan       Pak        832       53.98    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   6         ( - )        Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         825!      51.37    825 v NZ at Indore 2016

   7=       ( - )        Adam Voges        Aus        802*     72.75    824 v SL at Galle 2016

              ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         802       50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   9         ( - )        David Warner      Aus        772       48.63    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

  10        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        744       48.31    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

  11        ( - )        Alastair Cook      Eng        738       46.87    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  12        ( - )        Azhar Ali             Pak        733       46.10    754 v WI at Dubai 2016

  13        (+1)       C. Pujara              Ind          731        49.22    851 v SA at Durban 2013

  14        ( - )        A. Mathews         SL          724       47.16    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

  15=      (+1)       Virat Kohli          Ind         718       45.56    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

              (+1)       Jonny Bairstow    Eng        718       40.84    750 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  17        (-4)        Asad Shafiq         Pak        691       42.62    758 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  18        ( - )        D. Chandimal      SL          685       44.25    692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

  19        (+13)     K. Brathwaite      WI         677!      37.52    677 v Pak at Sharjah 2016

  20        (-1)        Ross Taylor         NZ         675       46.24    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

Other selected rankings

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

  40        (+1)       Kaushal Silva      SL          525       31.56    638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  41        (+10)     D. Karunaratne    SL          523       33.18    619 v WI at Galle 2015

  42        (+1)       H. Masakadza      Zim        522*     29.73    559 v Ban at Chittagong 2014

  58        (+27)     Shane Dowrich    WI         439*!    34.08    439 v Pak at Sharjah 2016

  82        (+4)       Roston Chase       WI         345*     29.54    397 v Ind at Jamaica 2016

  60        (+2)       Sami Aslam         Pak        435*!    41.25    435 v WI at Sharjah 2016

  91        (+1)       Sean Williams     Zim        311*     26.10    321 v NZ at Bulawayo 2016

  86        (+24)     Graeme Cremer   Zim        338*!    16.12    338 v SL at Harare 2016

Bowlers (top 20)

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

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         900!      24.29    900 v NZ at Indore 2016

   2         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         878       22.24    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   3         ( - )        James Anderson  Eng        853       28.28    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   4         ( - )        Rangana Herath   SL          832       28.60    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   5         (+1)       Stuart Broad        Eng        821       28.48    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

   6         (-1)        Yasir Shah           Pak        820       27.37    878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

   7         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         805*     23.52    809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016

   8         ( - )        Mitchell Starc     Aus        792!      27.36    792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

   9         ( - )        Neil Wagner        NZ         731*     29.63    760 v SA at Centurion 2016

  10        ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         723        22.09    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

  11=      ( - )        Trent Boult          NZ         715        29.56    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

              ( - )        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        715*     26.40    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

  13        ( - )        Morne Morkel     SA         710        29.33    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  14        ( - )        Nathan Lyon        Aus        677        32.80    696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

  15        ( - )        Dilruwan Perera  SL          674*!    27.70    674 v Zim at Harare 2016

  16        ( - )        S. Al Hasan          Ban        672        32.16    700 v Zim at Khulna 2014

  17        ( - )        Tim Southee        NZ         637        32.63    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

  18        ( - )        Chris Woakes      Eng        603*     25.86    609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

  19        ( - )        Peter Siddle         Aus        602        29.88    816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

  20        ( - )        Ben Stokes           Eng        579*!    33.32    579 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

Other selected rankings

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

  24        (+4)       Wahab Riaz         Pak        552*!    32.93    552 v WI at Sharjah 2016

  29        (+7)       D. Bishoo             WI         512*!    37.00    512 v Pak at Sharjah 2016

  38        (+2)       Shannon Gabriel  WI         427*!    38.12    427 v Pak at Sharjah 2016

  47        (+12)     Jason Holder        WI         342*     41.00    365 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  77        (+7)       Roston Chase       WI         162*     58.45    164 v Ind at Trinidad 2016

  76        (+1)       Carl Mumba        Zim        164*!    30.20    164 v SL at Harare 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Highest Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         451!      451 v NZ at Indore 2016

   2         ( - )        S. Al Hasan          Ban        405       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   3         ( - )        Moeen Ali           Eng        318 /*!  318 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

   4         ( - )        Ben Stokes           Eng        312 /*!  312 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

   5         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         292*/*! 292 v NZ at Indore 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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