India pacers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have moved ahead in the latest ICC Test Rankings, while Australia skipper Steve Smith has gained two places in the batsmen’s charts, following the conclusion of Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Smith, who scored a Test best 192 in the first innings, is on fifth spot for the first time in his career. He now trails number-one ranked AB de Villiers, who has regained the top spot from Kumar Sangakkara, by 40 ratings points.
New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum and Virat Kohli are the other batsmen inside the top 20 to make upward movements. McCullum has achieved a career-best 12th position by climbing two places, while Kohli has earned four places and is now 15th.
Also moving in the right direction are Chris Rogers of Australia (24th, up by four places), Ajinkya Rahane (26th, up by 15 places), Kraigg Brathwaite (37th, up by 11 places), Marlon Samuels (37th, up by seven places) and Dean Elgar (50th, up by 13 places).
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia’s Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets at the MCG, while Trent Boult has achieved a best-ever ranking of seventh after rising two places.
Bowler outside the top 20 and moving in the right direction include Neil Wagner, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Josh Hazlewood and Imran Tahir. Dale Steyn has retained his number-one ranking and is ahead of Harris by 54 ratings points.
There is no change to the top five in the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders. Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh leads the field, followed by South Africa’s Vernon Philander and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin.
Meanwhile, South Africa is just a draw away from retaining the ICC Test Championship mace. If South Africa draws the Cape Town Test and Australia wins in Sydney, then South Africa will finish on 122 ratings points, compared to Australia’s 119 ratings points.
However, if the West Indies wins in Cape Town Test and Australia wins in Sydney, then Australia will finish ahead of South Africa by a fraction of a point (0.2). England and Pakistan have been guaranteed third and fourth positions, respectively.
