Veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday moved to the top of the latest ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings, pipping England pacer James Anderson. Ashwin, who took six wickets in India’s win in the second Test in New Delhi, has gained two places. Anderson has slipped to second place after England’s defeat against New Zealand in the Wellington Test. The 36-year-old Ashwin reached the top spot for the first time among Test bowlers in 2015. After this, he has made it to the top several times.
Ashwin dismissed Alex Carey without opening the account after dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in the same over in the first innings during India’s win in Delhi. The off-spinner took three of the top five wickets in the second innings while his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja dismissed the rest of Australia’s batsmen at the other end. Ashwin will have a chance to stay at the top for a long time by doing better in the remaining two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on home soil.
Ashwin is the third bowler in the last three weeks to reach the top of the Test rankings. Last time around, Anderson had overtaken Australia captain Pat Cummins to take the top spot. Cummins is ranked third in the latest rankings. Ashwin has 864 rating points, five more than Anderson. Jadeja, who took 10 wickets in the second Test against Australia, has also moved up to the eighth position in the bowling rankings. Jadeja and Ashwin occupy the first two positions in the Test all-rounder rankings.
England’s Joe Root has moved up two places to eighth in the all-rounders’ list. Returning to form in Wellington, Root has moved past Travis Head and Babar Azam to reach the third spot in the ICC Test batting rankings. Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith occupy the first two spots in the Test batting rankings. New Zealand’s Tom Blundell has made it to the top 10. He has reached the seventh position with the gain of four places. His fine innings saw New Zealand beat England by one run in a thrilling encounter after following on. England’s young batsman Harry Brook has gained 15 places to join Virat Kohli in 16th place with another century.
