Younus vaults into second place in latest ICC Test player rankings

Younus, who had missed the day-night opening Test in Dubai due to an illness, has leapfrogged New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, England batsman Joe Root and South Africa’s Hashim Amla with innings of 127 and 29 not out.

Younus, who claimed number one ranking in March 2009 following his triple century in Lahore against Sri Lanka, hasn’t been ranked as high as second since July 2009. Younus now leads Root by eight points but trails Australia’s number-one ranked Steve Smith by 46 points.

Younus has been joined inside the top 10 by captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who has gained one place to take 10th position after scoring 96 in his only innings of the match, while Asad Shafiq is the other Pakistan batsman to rise in the rankings (14th, up by two places) following his two half-centuries.

For the West Indies, stylish left-hander Darren Bravo has slipped out of the top 20 but Kraigg Brathwaite has moved up three places to 32nd rank following scores of 21 and 67, while Jermaine Blackwood has gained 11 places to 41st rank following contributions of eight and 95.

England’s engrossing 22-run win over Bangladesh in the opening Test in Chittagong that ended on Monday, has seen wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow move up two slots to a career-best 11th place with scores of 52 and 47. Moeen Ali has also reached a career-high 26th rank as his scores of 68 and 14 have helped him move up two slots.

England’s Ben Stokes won the player of the match award for his performance in the Chittagong Test and this is reflected in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.

The 25-year-old Stokes, who along with Root and Jos Buttler played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand, has not only gained eight positions to reach 36th in the batting rankings with scores of 18 and 85, but has also moved up four slots to 23rd rank among bowlers after grabbing six wickets in the match.

The Yorkshireman has also reached a career-best fourth rank in the all-rounders’ list after gaining three places and is now just 11 points behind Ali, who is England’s highest-ranked all-rounder in third place.

For Bangladesh, left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal has moved up two slots to reach 24th position with scores of 78 and nine, while debutant Sabbir Rahman has entered the top 100 in 92nd position with innings of 19 and 64 not out.

In the MRF Tyres Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, which is led by India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah’s match haul of 10 for 210 in Abu Dhabi has seen him return to the top five.

Yasir, who peaked to the top during the series against England, has joined England’s Stuart Broad in fifth place, who has dropped one place after claiming just two Bangladesh wickets in Chittagong.

In the latest rankings, Pakistan’s Rahat Ali and West Indies’ Shanon Gabriel have achieved career-high rankings, while Bangladesh’s Mehedi Hasan has entered in 61st position after figures of six for 80 and one for 58 on his debut which has come eight months after he helped Bangladesh finish third in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016.

Rahat took four wickets in Abu Dhabi which has help him rise four places to 31st, while Gabriel’s five for 96 and one for 36 have given him a lift of 10 places and he is now in 38th position.

Other bowlers to head in the right direction include, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan in 15th (up by two places), England’s Ali in 27th (up by four places), Taijul Islam of Bangladesh in 36th (up by six places) and West Indies captain Jason Holder in 59th (up by two places).

The player rankings will now be updated following the Sharjah Test between Pakistan and the West Indies, which is scheduled to conclude on 3 November.

Zimbabwe versus Sri Lanka

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe hosts Sri Lanka in a two-Test series starting 29 October in Harare in what could be a chance for the home side to garner some points since the 10th-ranked side trails the sixth-ranked opposition by 87 points and this is weighted to reflect this difference.

Sri Lanka will only gain one point to reach 96 points if it wins the series 2-0 and will remain on 95 points with a 1-0 win. Zimbabwe will lose three points if it loses both matches but will gain two points even if it loses 1-0.

A drawn series will see Sri Lanka drop to 92 points while taking Zimbabwe up to 20 points. Zimbabwe could go up to 30 points if it pulls off a 1-0 win in the series while a 2-0 win will see it reach 35 points.

A loss by any margin for Sri Lanka, which will be without its regular captain and top-ranked batsman Angelo Mathews (joint-15th), will see it slip behind New Zealand to seventh position.

The Test team rankings, unlike the ODI and T20I team rankings, are only updated at the end of the series. The ICC Test predictor function is available here.

Forthcoming Tests:

Pakistan v West Indies

30 Oct-3 Nov – 3rd Test, Sharjah

Bangladesh v England

28 Oct-1 Nov – 2nd Test, Mirpur

Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka

29 Oct-2 Nov – 1st Test, Harare

6-10 Nov – 2nd Test, Harare

 
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 25 October, after the first Bangladesh-England Test and the second Pakistan-West Indies Test)

Rank Team              Points

1.     India                 115

2.     Pakistan             111

3.     Australia            108

4.     England             108

5.     South Africa        96

6.     Sri Lanka             95

7.     New Zealand       91

8.     West Indies          67

9.     Bangladesh          57

10.  Zimbabwe             8

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 26 October, after the first Bangladesh-England Test and second Pakistan-West Indies Test)

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         (+3)       Younus Khan       Pak        860       54.30     880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   3         (-1)        Joe Root               Eng        852       53.94     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         (-1)        Hashim Amla      SA         847       51.16     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5         (-1)        K. Williamson     NZ         841       50.31     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   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        (+1)       Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        765       48.71     842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

  11        (+2)       Jonny Bairstow    Eng        750!      41.95     750 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  12=      (-2)        Alastair Cook      Eng        737       46.96     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

              ( - )        Azhar Ali             Pak        737       46.12     754 v WI at Dubai 2016

  14        (+2)       Asad Shafiq         Pak        732       43.84     758 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  15=      (-1)        Angelo Mathews SL          731       47.16     877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

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

  17        ( - )        Virat Kohli          Ind         718       45.56     784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

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

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

  20        ( - )        Sarfraz Ahmed    Pak        661       43.33     715 v SL at Galle 2015

Other selected rankings

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

  21        (-1)        Darren Bravo       WI         651       40.79     709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

  22        ( - )        Kusal Mendis      SL          648*     37.35      692 v Aus at Galle 2016

  24        (+2)       Tamim Iqbal        Ban        628       39.56     707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010

  26        (+2)       Moeen Ali           Eng        622!      34.90     622 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  32        (+3)       K. Brathwaite      WI         579       34.10     591 v Eng at Grenada 2015

  36        (+8)       Ben Stokes           Eng        557       34.04     594 v Aus at Lord's 2015

  41        (+11)     J. Blackwood       WI         528*     32.38     575 v Eng at Barbados 2015

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        861       28.28    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   4         (+1)       Rangana Herath   SL          831       28.71    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   5=       (-1)        Stuart Broad        Eng        829       28.48    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

              (+1)       Yasir Shah           Pak        829       27.27    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        (+2)       Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        651       32.62    700 v Zim at Khulna 2014

  16        (-1)        Dilruwan Perera  SL          645*      28.35     658 v Aus at Galle 2016

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

  18        (+1)       Peter Siddle         Aus        602       29.88    816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

  19        (+1)       D. Prasad             SL          583*     35.97    632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  20        (-2)        Chris Woakes      Eng        580*     26.66    609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

Other selected rankings

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

  23        (+4)       Ben Stokes           Eng        547*!    34.86    547 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  27        (+4)       Moeen Ali           Eng        508*     41.12    557 v SA at Durban 2015

  31        (+4)       Rahat Ali             Pak        473*!    37.90    473 v WI at Abu Dhabi 2016

  38        (+10)     S. Gabriel            WI         399*!    38.36    399 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2016

  34        ( - )        Nuwan Pradeep   SL          449*     42.98    458 v Aus at Pallekele 2016

  41        (-2)        S. Eranga             SL          392*     37.49    541 v Eng at Headingley 2014

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        400       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   3         ( - )        Moeen Ali           Eng        316 /*!  316 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

   4         (+3)       Ben Stokes           Eng        305 /*!  305 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

   5         (-2)        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