Rabada becomes world's highest-ranked Test bowler

Rabada, who was one of the stars in South Africa’s successful campaign in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in the UAE in 2014, returned figures of three for 34 and two for 41 against a star-studded India batting line-up.

For this effort, the 22-year-old has collected five points, while James Anderson, who had entered the Sydney Test as the number-one ranked bowler, dropped by the same number of points following the last Ashes Test. This 10-point swing means the South African has moved ahead of the Englishman by one point after nine points had separated the two fast bowlers leading into the two Tests.

A delighted Rabada said: “It’s special to be ranked as the No.1 Test bowler in the world. It is a surreal feeling. It’s what you dream of achieving when you start playing the game.

“Cricket is ultimately a team sport and I’m thankful for the support from my team mates. It’s a great start to the year personally and for us as a team, hopefully we can continue putting in winning performances."

Rabada is the seventh South Africa bowler to top the ICC Test Bowling Rankings after Aubrey Faulkner, Hugh Tayfield, Peter Pollock, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.

Rabada’s team-mate Philander is the other bowler inside the top-20 to make an impressive gain. For his match figures of nine for 75, which also earned him the player of the match award, the 32-year-old has earned 67 points, which, in turn, has lifted him from 12th to sixth position.

Philander now trails Australia’s sixth-ranked Josh Hazlewood by eight points and has an opportunity to break into the top-five following the Centurion Test, which begins on Saturday, 13 January.

Outside the top-20, India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins of Australia have achieved career-high rankings.

Kumar has vaulted eight places to 22nd following figures of four for 87 and two for 33, while Cummins has leaped eight places and is now in 28th position after match figures of eight for 119, which also earned him the player of the match award.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Australia’s Steve Smith is unchanged on 947 points in first position, but there is some movement just behind him.

England captain Joe Root has leapfrogged India’s Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson of New Zealand into fourth position, while India’s Cheteshwar Pujara has slipped from third to fifth.

Root has earned 26 points from the Sydney Test in which he was dismissed once in scoring 141 runs, but Kohli has dropped 13 points after his contributions of five and 28 at Newlands. Pujara’s scores for 26 and four result in his total falling by 25 points.

South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar have slipped three places apiece to finish in 10th and 16th positions respectively, but AB de Villiers has risen five places to 13th with a slot in the top-10 firmly within his sights.

South Africa opener Aiden Markram, who was the player of the tournament in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2014, and India all-rounder Hardik Pandya are the other big movers from the Newlands Test. Markram has moved up six places to 48th, while Pandya is now ranked 49th after rocketing 24 places.

India’s Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have also lost ground. Vijay is now 30th after dropping five places, Dhawan has slipped three places to 33rd, while Sharma has ended up 44th after falling three places.

Australia batsmen have a lot to smile about in the latest rankings.

Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh have all achieved career-best rankings after stroking excellent centuries in the Sydney Test.

Khawaja, who scored 171 in Australia’s 649 for seven declared, has jumped eight places to 19th after collecting 55 points, Shaun Marsh has earned 42 points for his fine 156 that has moved him from 31st to 20th spot, while his younger brother Mitchell has been rewarded for his 101 with a leap of eight places that has put him in 57th position.

There is no change in the top-five of the all-rounders’ list, which is still headed by Shakib Al Hasan, with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in second and third place, respectively.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 9 January, following the conclusion of Australia v England series):

Rank    Team               Points

1.      India                 124

2.      South Africa      111

3.      Australia           104 (+7)

4.      New Zealand    100

5.      England            99 (-6)

6.      Sri Lanka          94

7.      Pakistan           88

8.      Windies            72

9.      Bangladesh      72

10.   Zimbabwe         01

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 9 January, following the conclusion of Cape Town and Sydney Tests):

BATSMEN (top 20)

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

   1          ( - )         Steve Smith          Aus         947!       63.75     947 v Eng at Sydney 2018

   2          (+2)        Joe Root               Eng         881         53.28     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3          (-1)         Virat Kohli             Ind          880         53.01     895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

   4          ( - )         Kane Williamson   NZ          855         50.62     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   5          (-2)         C. Pujara               Ind          848         52.07     888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

   6          ( - )         David Warner       Aus         827         48.77     880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   7          (+2)        Azhar Ali               Pak         755         46.62     787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

   8          (+2)        D. Chandimal        SL           743!       43.94     743 v Ind at Delhi 2017

   9          (-1)         Alastair Cook        Eng         742         46.35     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  10         (-3)         Hashim Amla        SA          740         49.08     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

  11         ( - )         Ross Taylor          NZ          739         48.04     871 v Win at Hamilton 2013

  12         ( - )         Lokesh Rahul       Ind          720*       44.62     761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

  13         (+5)        AB de Villiers        SA          715         50.47     935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

  14         ( - )         Faf du Plessis       SA          710         46.04     718 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

  15         ( - )         Quinton de Kock  SA          698         42.86     802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

  16         (-3)         Dean Elgar            SA          697         41.21     740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

  17         (-1)         Jonny Bairstow     Eng         692         39.12     772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

  18         (-1)         Kraigg Brathwaite Win         690         37.43     701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  19         (+8)        Usman Khawaja   Aus         685         45.80     747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

  20         (+11)      Shaun Marsh        Aus         660!       40.87     660 v Eng at Sydney 2018

BOWLERS (top 20)

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

   1          (+1)        Kagiso Rabada     SA          888!       21.96     888 v Ind at Cape Town 2018

   2          (-1)         James Anderson   Eng         887         27.40     896 v Win at Lord's 2017

   3          ( - )         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind          861         23.73     899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   4          ( - )         R. Ashwin              Ind          830         25.35     904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   5          ( - )         Josh Hazlewood   Aus         814         25.77     863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

   6          (+6)        Vernon Philander  SA          806         21.68     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   7          (-1)         Rangana Herath   SL           799         28.04     867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   8          (-1)         Neil Wagner          NZ          784         27.87     785 v Win at Wellington 2017

   9=        ( - )         Nathan Lyon         Aus         769         31.64     774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

               (-1)         Mitchell Starc        Aus         769         27.73     805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

  11         (-1)         Morne Morkel       SA          754         28.39     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  12         (-1)         Dale Steyn            SA          737         22.32     909 v Win at Centurion 2014

  13         ( - )         Trent Boult            NZ          725         28.56     825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  14         (+1)        Yasir Shah            Pak         704         29.44     878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  15         (-1)         Stuart Broad         Eng         683         29.33     880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

  16         (+1)        Tim Southee         NZ          682         31.45     799 v Win at Jamaica 2014

  17         (-1)         Keshav Maharaj   SA          671*       25.60     695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017

  18         ( - )         Shakib Al Hasan   Ban         668         32.35     705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

  19         ( - )         M. Shami              Ind          649*!      30.29     649 v SA at Cape Town 2018

  20         ( - )         Kemar Roach       Win         612         29.42     774 v SA at Centurion 2014

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          406        438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   3          ( - )         R. Ashwin              Ind          385        493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

   4          ( - )         Ben Stokes           Eng         358 /*    396 v Win at Lord's 2017

   5          ( - )         Vernon Philander  SA          331        376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

*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