The premier Australian spinner, Nathan Lyon along with the accurate fast bowler, Josh Hazlewood have moved up to No.7 and No.9 respectively in the latest ICC Test Rankings after helping their team to outplay the Indian team in the Perth Test to level the series 1-1.
Lyon has witnessed significant gain of seven positions for his match-winning haul of 8/106 in Australia’s convincing 146-run series-leveling victory, while Hazlewood’s figures of 2/66 and 2/24 moved him up two places in the latest rankings, which were released on Thursday, 20 December.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah, who bagged five wickets in the second Test against Australia, yet again made a significant move, climbing five places to No.28. His teammates, Mohammed Shami, and Ishant Sharma too climbed up the ladder. Shami, who remained wicket-less in the first innings and returned with 6/56 in the second, moved up by two slots to No.21, while Ishant’s five wickets have helped him overtake England spinner Moeen Ali to take the 26th position amongst bowlers.
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In the batting charts, Virat Kohli extended his lead at the numero uno position, even as Kane Williamson, who recently became the first New Zealander to make it to 900 points, improved on his numbers.
Opener Usman Khawaja, whose gritty knock of 72 in the second innings helped Australia set India a target of 287, moved up one slot to No.12. Tim Paine jumped from No.55 to No.46 while Travis Head moved up 17 slots to No.63 and Finch up by 17 to No.72. Meanwhile, India’s Ajinkya Rahane took a leap of three places to No.15 and Rishabh Pant has jumped 11 positions to a career-high No.48.
In the ICC Test Rankings for all-rounders also Lyon, who was also the Player of the Match, moving up four places to No. 15, Hazlewood up by four slots to No.25 and Shami with a leap of five places to No.35. Bumrah entered the top-100 charts after moving up six slots and now sits at No.99.
India’s Hanuma Vihari made significant moves in all the three rankings charts. He climbed up to No.65 in the all-rounders’ list, and now ranks No.84 (up by 15 places) and 110 (up by 12 places) in the bowling and batting charts respectively.
