Smith consolidates top spot as 11 points separate second-ranked Pujara from fifth-ranked Kohli
Dubai, Nov 28 (IBNS) : Australia captain Steve Smith has extended his lead at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, but the next four batsmen are separated by just 11 points in the latest rankings which were released on Tuesday following the conclusion of the Brisbane and Nagpur Tests.
Smith stroked a magnificent unbeaten 141, his 21st century in his 57th Test, which was the cornerstone of Australia’s 10-wicket victory over England in Brisbane. For his performance, Smith has gained five points to rise to 941 points, making him joint-fifth in terms of the highest points tally in batting history in Tests behind Sir Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942) and Ricky Ponting (942), and at par with Peter May (941).
If Smith is able to produce another strong performance in the day/night Test at the Adelaide Oval, then he has a solid chance of leapfrogging Hutton, Hobbs, Ponting and May into second place behind Bradman.
Among the other noticeable changes, India’s Cheteshwar Pujara has returned to number-two ranking after scoring 143 in his side’s huge victory by an innings and 239 runs in Nagpur. He had first peaked to second following the Ranchi Test against Australia in March, while the last time he was second was following his 133 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August.
Pujara has been rewarded with 22 points, which have lifted him from fourth to second on a career-high 888 points. The 29-year-old, who plays for Saurashtra in India’s domestic competitions, now leads his fifth-ranked captain Virat Kohli by 11 points. Kohli has vaulted from 817 points to 877 points after scoring his fifth career double-century in 62 Tests.
England captain Joe Root is sitting third and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is occupying fourth spot, while sixth-ranked David Warner of Australia is another 51 points behind Kohli.
Smith, who led Root by 47 points before the start of the Brisbane and Nagpur Tests, now leads Pujara by 53 points.
India opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who were the other centurions in the just-concluded Tests, have also made impressive gains. Vijay has risen eight places to 28thposition, while Rohit has shot up seven places to 46th spot.
Other batsmen making upward movements in the latest rankings include Dinesh Chandimal 17th (up by six places), Moeen Ali 26th (up by three places) and Shaun Marsh 43rd (up by two places), while some of the leading batsmen heading in the wrong direction include Joe Root third (down by one), Lokesh Rahul ninth (down by one), Alistair Cook 14th (down by four), Ajinkya Rahane 15th (down by two), Dimuth Karunaratne 18th (down by one), Usman Khawaja 23rd (down by four), Shikhar Dhawan 29th (down by one), Angelo Mathews 30th (down by six) and Niroshan Dickwella 42nd (down by five).
In the bowlers’ rankings, Ravindra Jadeja has reclaimed second position following his match figures of five for 84, while Mitchell Starc has returned to the top 10 in 10th position after his match figures of six for 128 helped him to gain three places.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest man to 300 wickets in Tests, has consolidated his fourth position by gaining nine points which have put him on 849 points. The India off-spinner is now 42 points behind number-one ranked James Anderson who has dropped five points after claiming two wickets in the Brisbane Test.
Other bowlers to improve their rankings include Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma of India, who have moved up one place each to 28th and 30th respectively, and Pat Cummins of Australia, who has jumped six places to claim 45th position.
In the all-rounders’ rankings, Ashwin has returned to third place in the list which is headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
New Zealand v Windies: Meanwhile, the two-Test series between New Zealand and the Windies commences at the Basin Reserve in Wellington from Friday. Fourth-ranked New Zealand (97) lead eighth-ranked Windies (75) by 22 points. This means the hosts will gain one point if they win by 1-0 and three points in case of a 2-0 win.
In contrast, the Windies will earn four points for a 1-0 win and six points for a 2-0 win. If the Windies win both the Tests, then New Zealand will drop to as low as sixth on 91 points.
Upcoming Tests:
1-5 December – 1st Test, New Zealand v Windies, Wellington
2-6 December – 2nd Ashes Test, Adelaide (d/n)
2-6 December – India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Delhi
9-13 December – 2nd Test, New Zealand v Windies, Hamilton
14-18 December – 3rd Ashes Test, Perth
26-30 December – 4th Ashes Test, Melbourne
26-29 December – One-day Test, South Africa v Zimbabwe, Port Elizabeth (d/n)
4-8 January – 5th Ashes Test, Sydney
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 28 November, before the start of New Zealand v Windies series):
Rank Team Points
1. India 125
2. South Africa 111
3. England 105
4. New Zealand 97
5. Australia 97
6. Sri Lanka 94
7. Pakistan 88
8. West Indies 75
9. Bangladesh 72
10. Zimbabwe 02
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 28 November after Brisbane and Nagpur Tests, and before the start of New Zealand v Windies series):
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 941! 61.23 941 v Eng at Brisbane 2017
2 (+2) C. Pujara Ind 888! 53.38 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
3 (-1) Joe Root Eng 881 53.35 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 (-1) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 877 51.82 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
6 ( - ) David Warner Aus 826 48.48 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
7 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 795 49.87 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
8 (+1) Azhar Ali Pak 755 46.62 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
9 (-1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 735* 44.62 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
10 (+1) Dean Elgar SA 732 42.30 740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017
Selected Rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
13 (+3) Ross Taylor NZ 705 47.10 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
14 (-4) Alastair Cook Eng 704 46.00 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
15= ( - ) Jonny Bairstow Eng 698 39.38 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
(-2) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 698 45.40 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
17 (+6) D. Chandimal SL 682 42.41 692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016
18 (-1) D. Karunaratne SL 668 36.06 700 v Pak at Dubai 2017
19 (+1) K. Brathwaite Win 657 36.74 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
23= (-4) U. Khawaja Aus 645 44.58 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
(+2) Shai Hope Win 645* 35.42 653 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017
26 (+3) Moeen Ali Eng 632 34.79 655 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
28 (+8) Murali Vijay Ind 624 40.64 747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015
29 (-1) S. Dhawan Ind 621 43.72 627 v SL at Kolkata 2017
30 (-6) A. Mathews SL 620 44.05 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
32 (-1) Jeet Raval NZ 611*! 44.81 611 v SA at Hamilton 2017
34 (-1) Tom Latham NZ 607 38.84 640 v Ban at Christchurch 2017
35 (-1) Kusal Mendis SL 595 33.51 692 v Aus at Galle 2016
36 (-1) BJ Watling NZ 593 38.05 644 v Eng at Headingley 2015
37 ( - ) Roston Chase Win 576* 40.25 626 v Pak at Dominica 2017
38 (+1) Darren Bravo Win 575 40.00 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012
42 (-5) N. Dickwella SL 556* 33.57 576 v Ind at Kolkata 2017
43 (+2) Shaun Marsh Aus 553 36.35 591 v SA at Perth 2016
46 (+7) Rohit Sharma Ind 539* 40.18 578 v NZ at Wellington 2014
48 (-1) Henry Nicholls NZ 512* 31.94 536 v SA at Wellington 2017
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) J. Anderson Eng 891 27.43 896 v Win at Lord's 2017
2 (+1) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 880 23.43 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
3 (-1) Kagiso Rabada SA 876! 22.71 876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017
4 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 849 25.06 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
5 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 807 28.04 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
6 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 798 25.75 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
7 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 753! 31.78 753 v Eng at Brisbane 2017
8 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 748 22.30 909 v Win at Centurion 2014
9 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017
10 (+3) Mitchell Starc Aus 744 28.08 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016
Selected rankings (top 50)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
11 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 743 28.77 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
12 (-1) V. Philander SA 736 22.45 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
13 (-1) Trent Boult NZ 732 28.75 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
16 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 687 31.55 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
18 ( - ) M. Shami Ind 641* 30.31 647 v SL at Kolkata 2017
19 ( - ) K. Maharaj SA 638* 26.33 644 v Ban at Potchefstroom 2017
20 ( - ) S. Gabriel Win 610* 34.00 636 v Eng at Headingley 2017
21 (+2) D. Bishoo Win 602! 36.01 602 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017
22 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 600 37.49 633 v Win at Edgbaston 2017
23 (+1) Kemar Roach Win 598 29.46 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
24 (-2) D. Perera SL 592* 33.16 674 v Zim at Harare 2016
27 ( - ) Umesh Yadav Ind 578*! 35.90 578 v SL at Nagpur 2017
28 (+1) B. Kumar Ind 538* 27.18 543 v SL at Kolkata 2017
30 (+1) Ishant Sharma Ind 536 36.46 671 v Win at Dominica 2011
31 (-3) Suranga Lakmal SL 514* 43.94 544 v Ind at Kolkata 2017
32 (+1) Jason Holder Win 492* 37.30 498 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017
33 (-1) Chris Woakes Eng 480* 32.21 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016
34 ( - ) Nuwan Pradeep SL 468* 42.90 501 v Ind at Galle 2017
45 (+6) Pat Cummins Aus 375*! 25.64 375 v Eng at Brisbane 2017
46= (-1) Mark Craig NZ 354* 46.52 405 v Aus at Wellington 2016
(-1) C. de G’homme NZ 354*! 25.56 354 v SA at Hamilton 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 438 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 414 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 389 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 388/* 396 v Win at Lord's 2017
5 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 379 409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
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