Mitchell Starc has ended Jasprit Bumrah’s stay at the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings, with the Australian left-arm pacer becoming the new No. 1 bowler in the latest update released on Wednesday, August 26. Starc’s rise came after a brilliant performance in the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay, where he claimed 10 wickets and played a major role in Australia’s dominant display. The veteran pacer gained two places to reach the top of the rankings with 872 rating points, moving ahead of Bumrah, who has slipped to second with 862 points.
Starc is also the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, underlining his impressive form in the longest format. His Australia teammate Pat Cummins has also moved up one spot and is now fourth, while New Zealand pacer Matt Henry remains third with 861 rating points.
Several other bowlers made significant gains in the latest rankings. England pacers Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue climbed sharply after their impressive performances in the first Test against Pakistan in Leeds. Robinson jumped 15 places to 11th, while Tongue moved up 16 spots to 17th.
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Sri Lanka’s Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya have also climbed five places each. Meanwhile, India’s Mohammed Siraj and Ravindra Jadeja slipped four and three positions respectively and are now ranked 18th and 19th.
🚨 MITCHELL STARC CLIMBS TO NO. 1 IN ICC TEST BOWLING RANKINGS! 👑🇦🇺
– Australian speedster Mitchell Starc has officially claimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings following his standout performances!
– Starc bagged a total of 10 wickets in the 2-match Test… pic.twitter.com/LDf9TDz7m5
— M Farhan (@MFarhan1200) August 26, 2026
In the Test batting rankings, Rishabh Pant has made a notable move after producing consecutive half-centuries against Sri Lanka. The India wicketkeeper-batter scored a fifty in the second innings of the first Test and followed it with another half-century in the first innings of the ongoing Colombo Test.
Those performances helped Pant climb six places to seventh with 711 rating points. He is now India’s joint-highest-ranked Test batter. Yashasvi Jaiswal, however, has slipped out of the top 10. The opener registered a duck in the second innings of the first Test before scoring 45 in Colombo. He has dropped two places to 11th with 701 rating points.
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New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, along with Australia’s Cameron Green, were among the other notable gainers. Ravindra and Mitchell are ranked sixth and ninth respectively, while Green has climbed nine places to 21st. Sri Lanka’s Sonal Dinusha has made one of the biggest jumps, rising 49 places to 54th after scoring two centuries in two Tests against India. His performances have earned him a career-best position in the ICC Test batting rankings.
