De Villiers returns to the top of the world

De Villiers had achieved the number-one batting position for the first time in March 2012 and last was at the summit earlier this year in January, before he was overtaken by Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara following his 203 against New Zealand in Wellington.

De Villiers scored 63 and 16 against India in the Mohali Test and has leapfrogged Australia captain Steven Smith, who scored 48 and one against New Zealand in Brisbane.

De Villiers now leads Smith by just one point but the rise of New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and David Warner of Australia means the top seven batsmen are now separated by just 44 points. This means there will potentially be further reshuffle at the top of the order, depending on how the remaining five Tests pan out.

Williamson scored 140 and 59, and has been rewarded with a jump of two places, which has put him in fifth position for the first time in his career. Warner’s two centuries in the Brisbane Test have also lifted him two places to seventh spot.

India’s Murali Vijay and South Africa’s Dean Elgar are the other top-ranked batsmen to achieve-career high rankings.

Vijay’s 75 and 47 has vaulted him eight places to 11th position, meaning that he has now become India’s highest-ranked batsman. Cheteshwar Pujara has gained five places following his contribution of 31 and 77 but he is two places behind Vijay in 13th spot.

Elgar has moved up four places to 34th and is one of four batsmen outside the top 20 to achieve career-best rankings, with the others being Adam Voges at 44th (up by five places), Joe Burns at 47th (up by 56 places) and Mark Craig at 57th (up by eight places).

Batsmen sliding in the latest rankings following the Brisbane and Mohali Tests include Virat Kohli at 16th (down by five places), Ross Taylor at 17th (down by four places), Ajinkya Rahane at 24th (down by three places), BJ Watling at 25th (down by two places) and Shikhar Dhawan at 38th (down by eight places).

In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Dale Steyn remains the number-one ranked bowler but following Ravichandran Ashwin’s five for 51 and three for 39, the India off-spinner has returned to the top five after rising three places.

Mitchell Starc’s four for 57 and two for 69 has helped the left-arm fast bowler achieve a career-best ranking of 13th after moving up seven places, while India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has rocketed 10 places to a career-high 21st position following match figures of eight for 76 that also earned him the player of the Mohali Test award.

Amit Mishra at 34th (up by three places), Imran Tahir at 51st (up by nine places) and Mitchell Marsh at 58th (up by 14 places) are the other bowlers to achieve career-best rankings.

There is no change in the list of top three all-rounders, which is still headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, though Starc has moved up two places to seventh and Jadeja has climbed10 places to 13th in what are career-high gains for both players.

ICC T20I Player Rankings (as on 10 November, after Brisbane and Mohali Tests)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Avge      HS Ranking

   1         (+1)       AB de Villiers     SA         891        51.92    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   2         (-1)        Steven Smith       Aus        890        55.15    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   3         ( - )        Joe Root               Eng        886        54.90    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         ( - )        Hashim Amla      SA         870        52.00    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5         (+2)       Kane Williamson NZ         863!      47.19    863 v Aus at Brisbane 2015

   6         (-1)        Angelo Mathews SL          851        51.43    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

   7         (+2)       David Warner      Aus        847        49.10    880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014

   8         (-2)        Younus Khan       Pak        826        53.94    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   9         (-1)        Alastair Cook      Eng        803        47.47    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  10        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        764        48.89    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

Selected Rankings (top 60)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Avge      HS Ranking

  11        (+8)       Murali Vijay        Ind         738!      42.36    738 v SA at Mohali 2015

  13        (+5)       C. Pujara              Ind         725        49.48    851 v SA at Durban 2013

  15        ( - )        B. McCullum       NZ         716        38.81    760 v SL at Christchurch 2014

  16        (-5)        Virat Kohli          Ind         707        44.12    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

  17        (-4)        Ross Taylor         NZ         696        44.39    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

  20        (-4)        Faf du Plessis      SA         664*     48.25    710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014

  24        (-3)        Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         636*     41.51    699 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  25        (-2)        BJ Watling          NZ         627        39.95    644 v Eng at Headingley 2015

  34        (+4)       Dean Elgar           SA         548*!    38.30    548 v Ind at Mohali 2015

  35        (+2)       Tom Latham        NZ         547*     39.39    569 v Pak at Dubai 2014

  38        (-8)        Shikhar Dhawan  Ind         539*     41.35    593 v SL at Galle 2015

  42        (-2)        JP Duminy           SA         519        35.55    586 v SL at Galle 2014

  44        (+5)       Adam Voges        Aus        508*!    56.50    508 v NZ at Brisbane 2015

  47        (+56)     Joe Burns             Aus        467*!    57.66    467 v NZ at Brisbane 2015

51          (-3)        R. Ashwin            Ind         454        32.17    527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

  57        (+8)       Mark Craig          NZ         427*!    42.81    427 v Aus at Brisbane 2015

Bowling (top 10)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge     Econ     HS Ranking

   1         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         902        22.56    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   2=       ( - )        James Anderson  Eng        846        28.96    847 v WI at Barbados 2015

              ( - )        Yasir Shah           Pak        846*!    24.17    846 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

   4         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        840        29.12    852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   5         (+3)       R. Ashwin            Ind         797        27.54    808 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   6         (-1)        Trent Boult          NZ         784        28.19    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   7         ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         769        22.08    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   8         (-2)        Mitchell Johnson Aus        767        28.10    849 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   9         ( - )        Rangana Herath   SL          751        29.49    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  10        (+1)       Morne Morkel     SA         698        29.66    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

Selected Rankings (top 60):

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts        Avge     Econ     Highest Ranking

  11        (-1)        Tim Southee        NZ         694        31.89    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

  13        (+7)       Mitchell Starc     Aus        652*!    31.03    652 v NZ at Brisbane 2015

  17        ( - )        Nathan Lyon        Aus        629        33.93    648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013

  18        (-2)        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        625*     23.44    634 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2015

  21        (+10)     Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         600*!    27.22    600 v SA at Mohali 2015

  34        (+3)       Amit Mishra        Ind         436*!    35.21    436 v SA at Mohali 2015

  40        (-1)        Mark Craig          NZ         399*     42.80    404 v Eng at Headingley 2015

  42        ( - )        Umesh Yadav      Ind         379*     38.95    412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014

  47        (-6)        Doug Bracewell   NZ         366*     38.20    538 v WI at Jamaica 2012

51         (+9)       Imran Tahir         SA         358*!    42.16    358 v Ind at Mohali 2015

58        (+14)     Mitchell Marsh   Aus        306*!    30.83    306 v NZ at Brisbane 2015

All-rounders (top three)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Points    Highest Ranking

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

   2         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         362       419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   3         ( - )        Vernon Philander SA         317*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014