Saha, Sharma and Ronchi move up in Test batsmen's rankings

Wicketkeeper-batsman Saha’s unbeaten knocks of 54 and 58 not only earned him the player of the match award but has also propelled him 18 places to 56th position in the list of batsmen led by Australia captain Steve Smith.

Sharma, whose crucial second-innings contribution of 82 helped India set a challenging 376-run target for New Zealand, has gained 14 slots to reach 38th rank.

Cheteshwar Pujara is the other India batsman to gain as he has moved up one slot to 15th position after scoring a total of 91 runs in Kolkata, including a first innings knock of 87.

For New Zealand, Ronchi, primarily a wicketkeeper-batsman in limited overs cricket who has played both Tests of the series as a specialist batsman, produced knocks of 35 and 32 to gain 12 slots and reach 40th rank.

His compatriot and left-handed opener Tom Latham has gained three places to reach 33rd slot after innings of one and 74.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers led by South Africa pace bowler Dale Steyn, India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s six wickets in the match, including a five for 48 in the first innings, have helped him gain nine slots to reach 26th place.

His fellow pace bowler Mohammad Shami’s two three-wicket hauls have seen him move up two places to 23rd position, while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has gained one slot to reach sixth rank with four wickets in the match.

New Zealand pace bowler Matt Henry, playing only his fifth Test match, has gained 16 slots to reach 61st position after grabbing five wickets in the match, while Trent Boult’s five wickets in Kolkata have seen him gain one position to reach ninth rank as he switched positions with compatriot left-arm pace bowler Neil Wagner who slipped from ninth to 10th rank.

Meanwhile, India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson have slipped one slot each in the bowlers’ and batsmen’s rankings, respectively.

The pair had risen from third to second positions after the opening Test in Kanpur. However, Ashwin’s four wickets in the Kolkata Test were not enough for him to retain the number-two position, while Williamson’s absence from the match due to illness meant he lost one percentage point from his rating points and, as such, has slipped back to third position.

Ashwin now trails England’s James Anderson by 11 points, while Williamson is eight points behind England’s Joe Root.

The player rankings will now be updated at the conclusion of the Indore Test.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 4 October 2016, after the second Test between India and New Zealand)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge      S/R        Highest Rating
   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        906       58.55     936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
   2         (+1)       Joe Root               Eng        878       54.86     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
   3         (-1)        K.Williamson      NZ         870       51.05     893 v Aus at Perth 2015
   4         ( - )        Hashim Amla      SA         847       51.16     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
   5         ( - )        Younus Khan       Pak        845       53.72     880 v SL at Lahore 2009
   6=       ( - )        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
   8         ( - )        David Warner      Aus        772       48.63     880 v NZ at Perth 2015
   9         ( - )        Alastair Cook      Eng        770       47.31     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
  10        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        764       48.27     842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge      Highest Rating
11          ( - )        Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         761       47.57     785 v WI at Trinidad 2016
15          (+1)       C. Pujara              Ind         708       47.59     851 v SA at Durban 2013
16          (-1)        Ross Taylor         NZ         692       46.74     871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
20          ( - )        Virat Kohli          Ind         673       43.76     784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
21          (-5)        Murali Vijay        Ind         663       40.49     747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015
33          (+3)       Tom Latham        NZ         583       38.38     597 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016
35          (-2)        B. J. Watling       NZ         565       37.88     644 v Eng at Headingley 2015
38          (+14)     Rohit Sharma      Ind         531*     35.40      578 v NZ at Wellington 2014
40          (+12)     Luke Ronchi        NZ         525*!    50.66     525 v Ind at Kolkata 2016
56          (+18)     W. Saha               Ind         454*!    31.09     454 v NZ at Kolkata 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge      Highest Rating
   1         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         878       22.24     909 v WI at Centurion 2014
   2         (+1)       James Anderson  Eng        870       28.28     884 v SL at Durham 2016
   3         (-1)        R. Ashwin            Ind         859       25.14     876 v WI at Antigua 2016
   4         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        836       28.52     880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
   5         ( - )        Rangana Herath   SL          831       28.71     851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
   6         (+1)       Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         809*!    23.14     809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
   7         (-1)        Yasir Shah           Pak        806*     27.48     878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
   8         ( - )        Mitchell Starc     Aus        792!      27.36     792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016
   9         (+1)       Trent Boult          NZ         739       29.03     825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
  10        (-1)        Neil Wagner        NZ         738*     29.63     760 v SA at Centurion 2016

Other selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                Team      Pts        Avge      Highest Rating
21         ( - )        Ishant Sharma      Ind         573       36.71     671 v WI at Dominica 2011
23         (+2)       M. Shami             Ind         570*!    32.60     570 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
26         (+9)       B.Kumar              Ind         501*!    28.04     501 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
61         (+16)     Matt Henry          NZ         255*!    46.06     255 v Ind at Kolkata 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                 Team     Pts        Highest Rating
   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         430       450 v NZ at Kanpur 2016
   2         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
   3         ( - )        Moeen Ali           Eng        292/*!   292 v Pak at The Oval 2016
   4         (-1)        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         286*/*  292 v NZ at Kanpur 2016
   5         ( - )        Mitchell Starc     Aus        279!      279 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

(Developed by David Kendix)