Indian batsmen make gains after Colombo victory

The 27-year-old batsman carried his bat in the first innings and returned unbeaten on 145 not out, his seventh career century, which was the cornerstone of India’s first innings score of 312. For this performance, Pujara has been rewarded with a jump of four places, which puts him in 20th position.

Pujara is now the second India batsman to feature in the top 20, but following Virat Kohli’s drop to 11th (down by one place), the fifth-ranked side has no batsman inside the top 10.

Apart from Pujara, there were few other middle-order batsmen who made significant contributions to India’s cause at the Singhalese Sports Club, which, in turn, have helped them to head in the right direction.

Rohit Sharma has moved up two places to 48th, Ravichandran Ashwin has gained five places and is now in 50th spot, while Amit Mishra, who scored 59 in the first innings and featured in a 104 runs eighth wicket partnership with Pujara, has vaulted 56 places to 91st.

It was a disappointing Test for Sri Lanka batsmen. However, Angelo Mathews has retained his fifth ranking following his seventh career century (110 in the second innings). He is now 11 points adrift of fourth-ranked South Africa captain Hashim Amla.

Meanwhile, there were no changes to the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers. However, there were improvements for Ishant Sharma, who reached the 200-wicket mark after claiming match figures of eight for 86. As a result, the fast bowler has moved up three places to 18th.

Amit Mishra’s three for 72 in the match has elevated him two places to a career-high 37th, while Umesh Yadav has also improved his ranking by two places to 42nd.

Sri Lanka trio of Dhammika Prasad (up three places to 22nd), Nuwan Pradeep (up 12 to 57th) and Mathews (up two to 71st) have also all made career-high gains.

ICC TEST RANKINGS (as on 2 September, following Sri Lanka-India series)

Rank               Team               Points
1                      South Africa     125
2                      Australia          106
3                      England           102
4                      Pakistan           101
5                      India                100
6                      New Zealand    99
7                      Sri Lanka         89
8                      West Indies      81
9                      Bangladesh      47
10                    Zimbabwe         5

(Developed by David Kendix)

ICC TEST PLAYER RANKINGS (as on 2 September, after Sri Lanka-India series)

Batsmen

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

   1          ( - )         Steven Smith       Aus        910       56.27    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   2          ( - )         AB de Villiers     SA          890       52.09    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   3          ( - )         Joe Root                              Eng        889       54.66    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4          ( - )         Hashim Amla      SA          881       52.48    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   5          ( - )         A. Mathews         SL          870       52.06    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

   6          ( - )         Younus Khan      Pak         829       54.07    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   7          ( - )         K. Williamson     NZ          813       45.70    860 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   8          ( - )         David Warner     Aus        775       46.78    880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014

   9          ( - )         Chris Rogers       Aus        761       42.87    793 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  10         (+1)       S. Chanderpaul   WI          735       51.37    901 v NZ at Napier 2008

Selected rankings

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

11         (-1)        Virat Kohli          Ind         730       45.06    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

  20         (+4)       C. Pujara              Ind         681       49.28    851 v SA at Durban 2013

  22         (-3)        Ajinkya Rahane  Ind         661*     43.64    699 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  28         ( - )         D. Chandimal      SL          603*     44.09    646 v Ind at Galle 2015

  36         (-4)        Kaushal Silva      SL          551       33.04    638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  38         (-6)        D. Karunaratne   SL          536       32.58    596 v Pak at Pallekele 2015

  48         (+2)       Rohit Sharma      Ind         507*     37.82    578 v NZ at Wellington 2014

  50         (+5)       R. Ashwin            Ind         457       32.44    527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

  60         (NEW)   Kusal Perera        SL          431*!    62.50    431 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2015

  91         (+56)     Amit Mishra        Ind         275*     23.86    305 v Eng at The Oval 2011

Bowlers

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

   1          ( - )         Dale Steyn           SA          905       22.48    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   2          ( - )         Stuart Broad        Eng        835       29.16    852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3          ( - )         Trent Boult          NZ          814       27.12    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   4          ( - )         Yasir Shah           Pak         810*!    24.81    810 v SL at Pallekele 2015

   5          ( - )         James Anderson Eng        807       29.38    847 v WI at Barbados 2015

   6          ( - )         M. Johnson          Aus        773       27.94    849 v Pak at Dubai 2014

   7          ( - )         V. Philander        SA          770       22.13    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   8          ( - )         R. Ashwin            Ind         760       28.44    808 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   9          ( - )         Rangana Herath  SL          716       30.21    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  10         ( - )         Tim Southee        NZ          713       31.63    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

Selected rankings

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

  18         (+3)       Ishant Sharma     Ind         613       36.51    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  22         (+3)       D. Prasad             SL          567*!    38.78    567 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2015

  37         (+2)       Amit Mishra        Ind         413*!    35.98    413 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2015

  42         (+2)       Umesh Yadav     Ind         389*     38.56    412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014

  57         (+12)     Nuwan Pradeep  SL          306*!    46.70    306 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2015

  71         (+2)       A. Mathews         SL          246*!    49.17    246 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2015

All-rounders

Rank     (+/-)      Player                 Team    Points    HS Ranking

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

   2          ( - )         R. Ashwin            Ind        347       419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   3          ( - )         V. Philander        SA         337*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   4          ( - )         Stuart Broad        Eng       294       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

   5          ( - )         M. Johnson          Aus       263       384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

*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