ICC Rankings: R Ashwin Jumps to Number 2, Kohli Falls Four Spots
Dropping four positions, Skipper Virat Kohli, who struggled to score in both the innings, is now at Number 20.
advertisement
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was ranked second in the latest ICC Rankings after his massive 10-wicket haul in the Kanpur Test against New Zealand. The Indian, who also achieved the feat of the fastest Indian bowler to pick 200 wickets, is now within seven points of Number-1 ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa.
Steyn leads the Rankings for Test Bowlers with 878 points. A strong performance in the Kolkata Test, starting Friday, will potentially see Ashwin top the bowling charts for the second time in 2016 after first claiming the Number 1 position last year following the Boxing Day Tests.
Ashwin also contributed with a useful innings of 40 to consolidate his position at the top of the list of all-rounders. Ashwin has reached a career-best rating of 450, opening up a 66-point gap with second-placed Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara Make Significant Gains
Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, who became the first Indian pair in 10 years to notch century partnerships in both innings of a Test match, moved up from joint-20th position to joint-16th position.
Other Indian batsmen to move up were Lokesh Rahul, who gained five ranks to reach the 57th position, and Rohit Sharma, who gained two slots to reach 52nd rank.
Victory in its 500th Test means India is now one victory away from reclaiming the ICC Test Championship mace from Pakistan. India had entered the series trailing Pakistan by one point and needed to win the series to move ahead of its traditional rival.
Meanwhile, India’s Ravindra Jadeja, who took six wickets in the Kanpur match and also contributed with the bat in the lower order, gained a place to be the seventh.
Ajinkya Rahane dropped out of top 10 after losing three positions to be 11th and India captain Virat Kohli, who struggled to score in both the innings is now at Number 20, a, loss of four positions.
(With inputs from PTI.)