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Lahore: Australia’s Steven Smith has become the second youngest batsman after Sachin Tendulkar of India to achieve the number-one ranking in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after stellar batting displays in the Kingston Test, which Australia won by 277 runs to win the series 2-0.
Despite missing out on what would have been his first double century in his 28th Test, Smith has leapfrogged Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and South Africa duo of AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla following scores of 199 and 54 not out in the latest rankings, which were released on Monday morning. However, Sangakkara will have a chance to reclaim his number-one ranking when he features in the series against Pakistan, which starts in Galle on Wednesday.
It has been a meteoric rise for Smith who, at 26 years and 12 days, is only a few months short of Tendulkar, who had topped the batting chart for the first time in 1999 at the age of 25 years and 279 days.
In achieving the landmark, Smith has also become the 23rd Australia batsman to date to top the batting table, with the last being captain Michael Clarke in January 2013. Steve Waugh spent 94 Tests as number-one – more than any other Australia batsman – while Don Bradman spent a record 6,320 days as the top-ranked batsman – more than anyone else in the history of the game.
Smith has gained 49 points from his efforts in Jamaica, which means he has also broken the 900-point barrier for the first time in his career. This makes him the 29th batsman to date and eighth Australia batsman after Bradman (961), Ricky Ponting (942), Matthew Hayden (935), Doug Walters (922), Neil Harvey (921), Mike Hussey (921) and Michael Clarke (900) to achieve the rare distinction, which in ranking terms means truly outstanding. He now sits on 913 points, which has given him 24th spot on the list of best Test ratings ever.
Last year in December, Smith had entered the four-Test series against India in 13th position on 730 points. This means he has earned 183 points and 12 places in six Tests, thanks to his aggregate of 1,052 runs at an average of 131.50, including six centuries and three half centuries.
Meanwhile, Clarke has moved up one place to 14th in the latest batting table, while Adam Voges has moved up five places to 60th. For the West Indies, Jason Holder has continued his fine run of recent form with the bat and his 82 not out in the first innings has helped him launch 21 places to a career-high 67th.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood have also achieved career-best rankings to date.
Starc has moved up four places to 21st after match figures of four for 84, while Hazlewood has also gained four places following match figures of seven for 56 and is now in 27th spot.
For the West Indies, Jerome Taylor’s match figures of six for 71 have elevated him 13 places to 22nd.
In the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings, Australia has retained its second position on 111 points, 19 points behind leader South Africa and 14 ahead of fifth-placed England.
Bangladesh v India
India may have slipped to fourth in the Test table following a drawn Test in Fatullah, its openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have achieved career-best rankings to date. Vijay has moved up three places to 20th, while Dhawan has vaulted 15 places to 45th. Ajinkya Rahane is the other notable mover and despite missing out on a century, he has moved up four places to a career-high 22nd to date.
In the bowlers’ chart, Ravichandran Ashwin’s and Shakib Al Hasan have gained one place each and are now 12th and 16th, respectively.
Sri Lanka v Pakistan
Meanwhile, shuffling of the pack is on the cards as Sri Lanka and Pakistan go head to head in a three-Test series in Galle on Wednesday.
In a tightly-packed middle of the Reliance ICC Test Championship, Pakistan trails third-ranked New Zealand by two points and is in sixth place (level on 97 points with India and England), while Sri Lanka is one point behind in seventh position.
If Pakistan wins all the three Tests, then it would vault into third place on 105 points, while a 2-1 win would also see Misbah-ul-Haq’s side move into third place on 101 points.
In contrast, Sri Lanka can also gain as many as eight points and move into third position on 104 points if it sweeps the series. Angelo Mathews’ side will rise to third on 100 points if it wins 2-1.
The Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings predictor function is available here. The Test rankings table, unlike the ODI & T20I tables, is updated after the series.
Forthcoming Tests:
Sri Lanka v Pakistan
17-21 June – 1st Test, Galle
25-29 June – 2nd Test, Colombo
3-7 July – 3rd Test, Kandy
Reliance ICC Test Championship table (as on 15 June, after West Indies-Australia series and one-off Bangladesh-India Test, and before the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series)
Rank Team Points
1 South Africa 130
2 Australia 111
3 New Zealand 99
4 India 97
5 England 97
6 Pakistan 97
7 Sri Lanka 96
8 West Indies 81
9 Bangladesh 41
10 Zimbabwe 5
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 15 June, after West Indies-Australia series and one-off Bangladesh-India Test, and before the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series)
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 (+3) Steven Smith Aus 913! 56.23 913 v WI at Jamaica 2015
2 (-1) K. Sangakkara SL 909 58.66 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (-1) AB de Villiers SA 908 52.09 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
4 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 891 52.78 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
5 ( – ) Angelo Mathews SL 841 51.50 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
6 ( – ) Younus Khan Pak 836 53.75 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
7 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 815 54.11 872 v NZ at Lord’s 2015
8 ( – ) K. Williamson NZ 813 45.70 860 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
9 (+2) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 770 49.18 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
10 (-1) David Warner Aus 757 46.82 880 v Ind at Adelaide 2014
Selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
11 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 755 45.73 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
13 ( – ) Azhar Ali Pak 727 44.23 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
14 (+1) Michael Clarke Aus 726 50.66 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
19 ( – ) Asad Shafiq Pak 696! 41.92 696 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
20 (+3) Murali Vijay Ind 689! 41.75 689 v Ban at Fatullah 2015
21 (-1) Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 673*! 47.65 673 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
22 (+4) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 666*! 47.00 666 v Ban at Fatullah 2015
24 (-2) Mominul Haque Ban 653* 58.75 661 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
27 ( – ) Tamim Iqbal Ban 627 39.67 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
29 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 615 39.72 629 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
31 (-1) Darren Bravo WI 591 41.22 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012
33 ( – ) M. Hafeez Pak 579 39.34 609 v Ban at Khulna 2015
38 (+5) J. Blackwood WI 540* 41.26 575 v Eng at Barbados 2015
40 ( – ) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 532* 47.86 554 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
41 ( – ) Kaushal Silva SL 531* 34.86 541 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
42 ( – ) Shane Watson Aus 525 35.40 729 v Eng at Perth 2010
44 (-8) K. Brathwaite WI 520 33.85 591 v Eng at Grenada 2015
45 (+15) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 519*! 41.50 519 v Ban at Fatullah 2015
48 (-3) M.Rahim Ban 501 31.96 604 v Zim at Mirpur 2014
49 (-1) D. Chandimal SL 497* 44.08 571 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 905 22.55 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
2 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 824 29.42 847 v WI at Barbados 2015
3 (+1) Trent Boult NZ 814 27.12 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
4 (-1) Ryan Harris Aus 810 23.52 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
5 (+1) Rangana Herath SL 807 29.57 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
6 (-1) M. Johnson Aus 803 27.58 849 v Pak at Dubai 2014
7 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 782 29.77 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
8 ( – ) V. Philander SA 780 21.95 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
9 ( – ) Morne Morkel SA 727 29.35 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
10 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 713 31.63 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
Selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
12 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 686 30.20 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
13 (-1) Kemar Roach WI 669 27.83 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
15 ( – ) Junaid Khan Pak 623* 29.61 652 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
16 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 619 33.08 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
18 ( – ) Nathan Lyon Aus 595 34.73 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
19 ( – ) Ishant Sharma Ind 567 37.43 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
20 ( – ) Yasir Shah Pak 559*! 28.37 559 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
21 (+4) Mitchell Starc Aus 545*! 32.20 545 v WI at Jamaica 2015
22 (+13) Jerome Taylor WI 530* 33.45 717 v Eng at Jamaica 2009
27 (+4) Josh Hazlewood Aus 506*! 19.08 506 v WI at Jamaica 2015
28 (-2) Dilruwan Perera SL 501* 30.08 531 v Pak at Galle 2014
33 (RE) Harbhajan Singh Ind 454 32.32 765 v NZ at Wellington 2002
35 (-2) M. Hafeez Pak 422*! 33.87 422 v Ban at Mirpur 2015
36 (-2) Zulfiqar Babar Pak 418* 37.55 501 v NZ at Dubai 2014
37 (+1) Shane Watson Aus 413* 33.05 633 v SA at Cape Town 2011
43 (-6) Taijul Islam Ban 381* 33.17 446 v Pak at Khulna 2015
46 (-2) Umesh Yadav Ind 367* 38.06 412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 381 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 ( – ) V. Philander SA 341*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
3 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 336*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 ( – ) M. Johnson Aus 283 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 267 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.
!indicates career-highest rating
