Australia skipper Steve Smith has extended his lead at the numero uno position of the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen with Cheteshwar Pujara and India captain Virat Kohli completing the list of the top 5 batsmen. While Pujara occupies the second spot, Virat is holding on to his fifth spot. The four batsmen — number two to five — are separated by just 11 points.
Among the other noticeable changes, Pujara has returned to number-two position after scoring 143 in India’s huge victory by an innings and 239 runs in Nagpur. He had first reached the no.2 position after the Ranchi Test against Australia in March, while the last time he was second was following his 133 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August.
Pujara has earned 22 points, which have lifted him from fourth to second on a career-high 888 points. He is leading Kohli with 11 points. Kohli also took the huge leap from 817 points to 877 points after scoring his fifth career double-hundred in 62 Tests.
Smith, who led Root (who is now at the 3rd position) by 47 points before the start of the Brisbane and Nagpur Tests, now leads Pujara by 53 points. India opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who were the other century makers in the just-concluded Test, have also made impressive gains. Vijay has risen eight places to 28th spot, while Rohit has shot up seven places to 46th position.
Other batsmen making upward movements in the latest rankings include Dinesh Chandimal 17th (up by six places), while some of the leading batsmen heading in the wrong direction include Joe Root third (down by one), Lokesh Rahul 9th (down by one), Ajinkya Rahane 15th (down by two), Dimuth Karunaratne 18th (down by one), Shikhar Dhawan 29th (down by one), Angelo Mathews 30th (down by six) and Niroshan Dickwella 42nd (down by five).
In the bowlers’ rankings, Ravindra Jadeja has reclaimed the second spot following his match figures of five for 84, while Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest man to 300 wickets in Tests, has solidified his fourth position by gaining nine points which have put him on 849 points. The India off-spinner is now 42 points behind number-one ranked James Anderson who has dropped five points after claiming two wickets in the Brisbane Test.
Other bowlers to improve their rankings include Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma of India, who have taken a leap to the 28th and 30th respectively, and Pat Cummins of Australia, who has jumped six places to claim 45th position.
In the all-rounders’ rankings, Ashwin has returned to third place in the list which is headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
