ICC Test Rankings: 'Lord' Shardul Thakur jumps 59 places to 79th position

Dubai: England batter Ollie Pope and India all-rounder Shardul Thakur made notable gains in the latest ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, released on Wednesday after fine performances in the fourth Test of their ICC World Test Championship series played at The Oval.

Pope’s first innings knock of 82 helped him advance nine slots to 49th position among batters while Thakur’s two half-centuries have lifted him a good 59 places to 79th position.

The 29-year old Thakur also moved up seven places to 49th in the bowlers’ list after finishing with four wickets in the match.

Meanwhile, India opener Rohit Sharma remained at fifth spot but his match-winning 127 in the second innings helped him increase the lead over captain Virat Kohli from seven to 30 rating points.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah was up from 10th to ninth after finishing with two wickets in each innings of the match.

England all-rounder Chris Woakes was another one to progress in the latest weekly update, gaining seven places to reach 87th among batters and three places to 23rd among bowlers after finishing with seven wickets at The Oval. Ollie Robinson’s five wickets lifted him three places to 33rd.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, South Africa opener Janneman Malan moved up 31 places to 34th after scoring 162 runs in the three-match ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League series that Sri Lanka won 2-1.

Aiden Markram (up six places to 69th) and Heinrich Klaasen (up seven places to 70th) were the others from the team to progress among batters. Left-arm spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who is the top-ranked bowler in T20Is, moved up nine places to 28th among bowlers.

Sri Lanka’s Avishka Fernando was up 11 places to 41st while Kariyawasa Asalanka’s series topping 196 runs saw him shoot up 122 places to 66th position. Wanindu Hasaranga was up three places to 32nd among bowlers.

In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Paul Stirling gained nine slots to reach 14th place after scoring 234 runs in the five-match series against Zimbabwe, which they won at home. Craig Ervine was another batter to move up the batting rankings, from 128th to 85th.

For Bangladesh, spin bowlers Shakib Al Hassan and Mehedi Hasan, who have four wickets each in the first three matches of their ongoing five-match home series against New Zealand, also progressed. Shakib moved up from 12th to ninth and Mehedi from 91st to 24th. (UNI)