Rabada and de Kock vault into top 20 for the first time

Rabada, who took 14 wickets in South Africa’s successful campaign in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014 in the United Arab Emirates, has jumped 10 places to 20th position in the bowlers’ table following figures of two for 78 and five for 92, which later earned him the player of the match award.

The 21-year-old is the fourth South Africa fast bowler to feature inside the top 20 after Dale Steyn (second but ruled out of the series due to a shoulder injury), Vernon Philander (11th) and Morne Morkel (13th).

Rabada now has Australia’s Nathan Lyon firmly within his sights as the 16th-ranked off-spinner is 51 points ahead.

Because the Johannesburg-born fast bowler is still in his qualification period, he has an excellent chance of leapfrogging the Australian depending on how he performs in the Hobart and Adelaide Tests.

A bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has taken 100 wickets, while Rabada has claimed 29 wickets in eight Tests.

De Kock, who was his country’s most successful batsman in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2012 in Townsville with 284 runs, scored 84 and 64 for which he has been rewarded with a jump of 11 places.

This has put the left-hander in 20th spot in the batting chart.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has now become South Africa’s third batsman to feature inside the top 20.

Hashim Amla is sixth after dropping out of the top five following a five-place slide, while AB de Villiers, who is missing the series due to an injury, is seventh.

The 23-year-old de Kock looks strong to gain more points, which means he can move further up the order as he is still in the qualification period.

A batsman qualifies for a full rating after he has played in 40 Test innings, while de Kock has so far scored 805 runs in 15 innings of 10 Tests.

The other South Africa players to reap the benefits for stellar performances in the Perth Test include opener Dean Elgar, who has achieved a career-high 24th position after rising five places, and JP Duminy, whose fourth career century has lifted him nine places to 38th position.

The good news for Australia in the batting table is the movement of David Warner in eighth (up by one place), Shaun Marsh in 31st (up by two places) and Usman Khawaja in 33rd (up by four places) and Peter Nevill in 80th (up by 14 places).

In the bowling index, Josh Hazlewood, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 and 2010 in Malaysia and New Zealand respectively, has risen two places to ninth following his five wickets, while Mitchell Marsh, who captained Australia to victory in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010, has gained three places and is now in 50th spot after taking two for 77 in the second innings.

South Africa’s Vernon Philander scored 10 and 73, and also took match figures of five for 111 which helped him move up one place to sixth in the all-rounders’ category.

India v England

Meanwhile, number-one ranked India (115 points) takes on fifth-ranked England (105 points) in a five-Test series starting in Rajkot on Wednesday.

The top four-ranked Test sides are separated by just 10 points and as these four sides are already or preparing to flex their muscles in the purest format of the game, changes in the upper half of the draw are on the cards depending on how the upcoming series pan out.

Focusing on the India versus England series, Virat Kohli’s side will be aiming to, at least, draw the series which will seal its number-one ranking at the end of the year, irrespective of the outcome of the Australia v South Africa and the New Zealand v Pakistan series.

In this scenario, India will finish on 113 points and will, thus, be untouchable even if Australia bounces back to win the remaining two Tests against South Africa or Pakistan wins both the Tests against New Zealand.

A 3-2 series win will lift India to 116 points, a 4-1 series win will put it on 119 points and it will jump to 122 points in case of a 5-0 win.

Similarly, the incentive for Alastair Cook’s side is equally high as it will be aiming to move up the order. A 3-2 series win will put it on 108 points, while a 4-1 series win will mean it will move ahead of India to 110 points.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, England’s Joe Root and India’s Ajinkya Rahane will start the series as their sides’ highest-ranked batsmen.

Root is third, just seven points behind second-ranked Kane Williamson of New Zealand, while Rahane is fifth, nine points behind Root.

Other batsmen inside the top 20 and aiming for upward movement include Alastair Cook (11th), Cheteshwar Pujara (13th), Kohli and Jonny Bairstow (joint-15th), while notable batsmen outside the top 20 are Murali Vijay (25th), Moeen Ali (32nd) and Ben Stokes (40th).

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin leads the field by a distance.

The off-spinner is the only bowler touching the 900-point mark, which, in ranking terms, is considered as outstanding.

The Rajkot Test will also be a big occasion for Stuart Broad, who is set to become England’s 14th player to complete a century of Tests.

In the absence of James Anderson, Broad will be his side’s highest-ranked bowler in fifth position, trailing his England team-mate James Anderson by 32 points.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is the other India bowler to feature inside the top 20 in seventh position (16 points behind Broad), while England’s Chris Woakes is in 19th position.

Bowlers aiming to break into the top 20 include Stokes (21st), Ishant Sharma (23rd), Mohammed Shami (26th) and Steven Finn (29th).

Ashwin is also enjoying number-one position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test All-rounders.

He is 133 points clear of Moeen Ali, who is ranked third.

Upcoming Tests

India v England fixtures

9-13 Nov – 1st Test, Rajkot

17-21 Nov – 2nd Test, Visakhapatnam

26-30 Nov – 3rd Test, Chandigarh

8-12 Dec – 4th Test, Mumbai

16-20 Dec – 5th Test, Chennai

Australia v South Africa

12-16 Nov – 2nd Test, Hobart

24-28 Nov – 3rd Test, Adelaide (d/n)

New Zealand v Pakistan

17-21 Nov – 1st Test, Christchurch

25-29 Nov – 2nd Test, Hamilton

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (Before the start of India v England series)

Rank Team              Points

1          India                115

2          Pakistan          109

3          Australia         108

4          England           105

5          South Africa   96

6          Sri Lanka        95

7          New Zealand   91

8          West Indies     69

9          Bangladesh     65

10        Zimbabwe       08

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (After Perth Test between Australia and South Africa)

Batsmen (top 20)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        HS Rating

   1         ( - )        Steve Smith         Aus        886        57.40    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2         (+1)       Kane Williamson NZ         841        50.31    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   3         (+1)       Joe Root               Eng        834        53.28    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         (+1)       Younus Khan       Pak        832        53.98    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   5         (+1)       Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         825!      51.37    825 v NZ at Indore 2016

   6         (-4)        Hashim Amla      SA         803        50.47    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   7         ( - )        AB de Villiers     SA         794        50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   8         (+1)       David Warner      Aus        793        48.98    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   9         (-2)        Adam Voges        Aus        778*     67.40    824 v SL at Galle 2016

  10        ( - )        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        744        48.31    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

  11        ( - )        Alastair Cook      Eng        738        46.87    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  12        ( - )        Azhar Ali             Pak        733        46.10    754 v WI at Dubai 2016

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

  14        ( - )        Angelo Mathews SL          724        47.16    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

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

              ( - )        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        718        40.84    750 v Ban at Chittagong 2016

  17        ( - )        Asad Shafiq         Pak        691        42.62    758 v Eng at Lord's 2016

  18        ( - )        D. Chandimal      SL          685        44.25    692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

  19        ( - )        K. Brathwaite      WI         677!      37.52    677 v Pak at Sharjah 2016

  20        (+11)     Quinton de Kock SA         676*!    51.42    676 v Aus at Perth 2016

Selected rankings

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        HS Rating

  24        (+5)       Dean Elgar           SA         643!      38.02    643 v Aus at Perth 2016

25        (-2)        Murali Vijay        Ind         636        39.76    747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

  26        (-2)        Faf du Plessis      SA         626        42.04    710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014

  31        (+2)       Shaun Marsh       Aus        591*!    40.15    591 v SA at Perth 2016

  33        (+4)       Usman Khawaja  Aus        580*     44.50    613 v NZ at Wellington 2016

  38        (+9)       JP Duminy           SA         566        34.22    586 v SL at Galle 2014

  40        (-1)        Ben Stokes           Eng        539        33.12    594 v Aus at Lord's 2015

  47        (-1)        Joe Burns             Aus        504*     41.52    575 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

  50        ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         501        33.55    527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

  51        (+1)       Temba Bavuma   SA         498*!    38.28    498 v Aus at Perth 2016

  55        ( - )        Gary Ballance      Eng        470*     39.25    702 v WI at Grenada 2015

Bowlers (top 20)

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

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         900!      24.29    900 v NZ at Indore 2016

   2         ( - )        Dale Steyn           SA         861        22.30    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   3         ( - )        James Anderson  Eng        853        28.28    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   4         ( - )        Rangana Herath   SL          832        28.60    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

   5         ( - )        Stuart Broad        Eng        821        28.48    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

   6         ( - )        Yasir Shah           Pak        820        27.37    878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

   7         ( - )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         805*     23.52    809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016

   8         ( - )        Mitchell Starc     Aus        777        27.76    792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

   9         (+2)       Josh Hazlewood  Aus        732*     26.95    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

  10        (-1)        Neil Wagner        NZ         731*     29.63    760 v SA at Centurion 2016

  11        (-1)        Vernon Philander SA         728        22.09    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

  12        (-1)        Trent Boult          NZ         715        29.56    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  13        ( - )        Morne Morkel     SA         702        29.33    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  14        (+1)       Dilruwan Perera  SL          674*!    27.70    674 v Zim at Harare 2016

  15        (+1)       Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        672        32.16    700 v Zim at Khulna 2014

  16        (-2)        Nathan Lyon        Aus        638        33.35    696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

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

  18        (+1)       Peter Siddle         Aus        607        29.92    816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013

  19        (-1)        Chris Woakes      Eng        603*     25.86    609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

  20        (+10)     Kagiso Rabada    SA         587*!    24.41    587 v Aus at Perth 2016

Selected rankings

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

  21        (-1)        Ben Stokes           Eng        579*!    33.32    579 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

  23        ( - )        Ishant Sharma      Ind         568        36.71    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  26        (-1)        M. Shami             Ind         547*     33.72    570 v NZ at Kolkata 2016

  27        (-1)        Moeen Ali           Eng        541*     39.64    557 v SA at Durban 2015

  29        (-1)        Steven Finn         Eng        514        30.40    624 v NZ at Headingley 2013

  33        ( - )        Umesh Yadav      Ind         464*     36.40    509 v WI at Antigua 2016

  39        ( - )        Amit Mishra        Ind         406*     34.36    467 v SA at Nagpur 2015

  50        (+3)       Mitchell Marsh   Aus        314*     37.27    349 v WI at Melbourne 2015

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         HS Rating

   1         ( - )        R. Ashwin            Ind         451!      451 v NZ at Indore 2016

   2         ( - )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        405       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   3         ( - )        Moeen Ali           Eng        318 /*!  318 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

   4         ( - )        Ben Stokes           Eng        312 /*!  312 v Ban at Mirpur 2016

   5         ( - )        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