Rankings boost for Moeen Ali

Ali’s scores of 14 and 75 not out have helped him move up three positions back to a career-best 21st position among batsmen in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings while his seven wickets in the match have enabled him to retain a career-best ranking of 18th among bowlers and fourth in the table for all-rounders, in which he has crossed 400 points for the first time.

His rise in the rankings was due to consistent performances as he became the first player to score 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four-Test series and was named the player of the series along with South Africa’s Morne Morkel. Ali had started the series at number 27 among batsmen, 30th among bowlers and sixth in the table for all-rounders.

His team-mates Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson too have made significant progress. Bairstow’s knocks of 99 and 10 have helped him reach a career-best rank of seventh while Anderson’s seven wickets have helped him overtake India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to take second place among bowlers.

For South Africa, Hashim Amla’s knocks of 30 and 83 have helped him move up one slot to ninth position while pace bowler Duanne Olivier’s five wickets in the match have taken him up 27 slots up to a career-best 51st position.

Meanwhile, India batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have made notable movements after their centuries in the Colombo Test helped India take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series with an innings and 53 runs win over Sri Lanka. Pujara’s knock of 133 in his 50th Test has helped him to a career-high 888 points and third position while Rahane has moved from 11th to fifth position with a score of 132.

Ravindra Jadeja’s knock of 70 not out and seven wickets have seen him edge out Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan to take the top position among all-rounders for the first time. Jadeja, who is the top-ranked Test bowler, has also gained nine places to reach 51st rank among batsmen while India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has attained a career-best 44th position after moving up four places.

Pace bowlers Mohammad Shami (up three places to 20th) and Umesh Yadav (up three places to 22nd) have made notable gains.

For Sri Lanka, Kusal Mendis has moved up 10 places to 19th position after scores of 24 and 110 in the Colombo Test while opener Dimuth Karunaratne has gained 13 slots to reach 24th rank after scores of 25 and 141. Niroshan Dickwella has moved up 21 slots to a career-best 68th position.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 8 August, after the fourth and final Test between England and South Africa at Old Trafford and the second Test between Sri Lanka and India in Colombo):

Batsmen (top 10)

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

   1       ( - )       Steve Smith      Aus      941!     61.05   941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

   2       ( - )       Joe Root          Eng      891       53.21   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3       (+1)      C. Pujara           Ind        888!     53.23   888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   4       (-1)       K. Williamson    NZ        880       51.16   893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   5       ( - )       Virat Kohli         Ind        813       49.63   895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

   6       (+5)      A. Rahane         Ind        776       48.13   825 v NZ at Indore 2016

   7       (+2)      J. Bairstow        Eng      772!     41.26   772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

   8       (-2)       Azhar Ali           Pak      769       46.86   787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

   9       (+1)      Hashim Amla     SA        764       49.00   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

  10       (-3)       David Warner    Aus      759       47.42   880 v NZ at Perth 2015

Other selected rankings

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

11         (+2)      Lokesh Rahul    Ind        737*    44.89     739 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017

19         (+10)     Kusal Mendis    SL        671*    36.56     692 v Aus at Galle 2016

21         (+3)      Moeen Ali         Eng      655!     35.14    655 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

24         (+13)     D. Karunaratne  SL        633!     35.50    633 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2017

44         (+4)      W. Saha            Ind        524*!    33.21    524 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

51         (+9)      R.Jadeja           Ind        491!     29.89    491 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

68         (+21)     N. Dickwella      SL        414*!    30.41    414 v Ind at Colombo (SSC) 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

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

   1       ( - )       R. Jadeja          Ind        893      23.60    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   2       (+1)      J. Anderson      Eng      860      27.90    884 v SL at Durham 2016

   3       (-1)       R. Ashwin         Ind        842      25.47    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   4       ( - )       J. Hazlewood    Aus      826      25.39    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

   5       (-1)       R. Herath          SL        817      28.25    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   6       ( - )       K. Rabada        SA        785*     24.56    821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

   7       (+1)      Stuart Broad     Eng      775      28.64    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

   8       (-1)       Dale Steyn        SA        763      22.30    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   9       ( - )       V. Philander      SA        751      22.45    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

  10       ( - )       Neil Wagner      NZ        745      28.90    767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

Other selected rankings

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

18        ( - )       Moeen Ali           Eng       625!     36.82   625 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

20        (+3)      M. Shami            Ind         573*     32.17   595 v Eng at Mohali 2016

22        (+3)      Umesh Yadav     Ind         568*!    36.23   568 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

44        (+10)     T. Roland-Jones Eng        362*!    22.20   362 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

51        (+27)     Duanne Olivier     SA         341*!    20.83   341 v Eng at Old Trafford 2017

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team     Pts      Highest Rating

   1       (+1)      R. Jadeja          Ind        438!     438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   2       (-1)       S. Al Hasan       Ban      431      443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017

   3       (-1)       R. Ashwin         Ind        418      493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

   4       ( - )       Moeen Ali         Eng      409!     409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

   5       ( - )       Ben Stokes       Eng      360 /*   362 v SA at The Oval 2017