ICC Test Rankings: Virat Kohli continues to lead batting chart, Kagiso Rabada becomes No.1 bowler

Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli continues to lead in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings.

In the batting table, Kohli continues to lead, Azhar Ali has moved up three places to 12th, Kusal Mendis is 20th (up by eight places), Ben Stokes is 31st (up by five places), Roshen Silva is 48th (up by five places) and Shane Dowrich is 58th (up by seven places).

Jonny Bairstow of England, Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque and Yasir Shah of Pakistan have made impressive gains following their contributions in their sides’ convincing victories earlier this week.

Bairstow’s 110 and 15 was the cornerstone of England’s 42-run victory over Sri Lanka in Colombo, which gave the visitors a 3-0 series win, Mominul scored 120 and 12 as Bangladesh defeated the Windies by 64 runs in Chittagong for their maiden win over the Caribbean side, and Yasir recorded match figures of 14 for 184 as Pakistan bounced back in Dubai to level the series with New Zealand following an innings-and-16-run victory.

These performances not only earned the three players the match awards, but also reflected in the latest player rankings, which were released Wednesday morning.

Bairstow has returned to the top-20 in 16th place after rising six places, Mominul is now just outside the top-20 in 24th place after moving up 11 places and Yasir is back in the top-10 in 10th position after jumping nine places.

A number of other players have improved their rankings, following impressive performances in the just-concluded Tests.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls leads the pack of batsmen who have achieved career-high rankings.

Nicholls is now ranked 17th (up by three places), Jos Buttler is 18th (up by three places), Haris Sohail is 38th (up by 33 places), Babar Azam is 39th (up by 24 places) and Ben Foakes is 50th (up by four places).

In the bowlers’ table, Kagiso Rabada has become the number-one bowler after England’s James Anderson lost one per cent of his points for missing the Colombo Test. This meant Anderson lost nine points and has now dropped eight points behind the South Africa fast bowler.

Apart from Yasir, other bowlers to move up the ladder are: Taijul Islam at a career-high 21st position (up six places), Stokes at 28th (up three places), Devendra Bishoo at 32nd (up two places), Adil Rashid at a career-best 36th (up two places), Jack Leach at 41st (up two places), Lakshan Sandakan at a career-high 45th (up 11 places) and Malinda Pushpakumara at 61st (up 15 places). (UNI)