Lahore : Azhar Ali and Devendra Bishoo have achieved career-high rankings in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning following Pakistan’s 56 runs victory in the day/night Test in Dubai.
Azhar, who won the player of the match award for his 302 not out, has climbed five places to a career-high 12thposition, while Bishoo’s match figures of 10 for 174 have helped him gain 11 places to claim 30th position.
Azhar is the fourth Pakistan batsman after Hanif Mohammad, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan to score a Test triple century. For this achievement, the opener, who played as a wrist spinner in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2002 in New Zealand, has earned 62 points, which, in turn, has also allowed him to move ahead of team-mate Asad Shafiq (16th, down by three places).
Azhar now has his captain Misbah-ul-Haq firmly within his sights, whom he trails by just one point, while Younus Khan remains his side’s highest-ranked batsman in fifth place (slipped one place after dropping one per cent of his points for missing the Dubai Test).
In contrast, by rising 11 places to 30th, Bishoo has opened up a significant lead over team-mate Shannon Gabriel (48th), who is the second highest-ranked West Indies bowler in the series, and captain Jason Holder (61st).
The 30-year-old looks strong to gain further points and edge closer to the top 20 as he is still in the qualification period. A bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has taken 100 wickets, while Bishoo has so far claimed 69 wickets in 19 Tests.
Stylish West Indies batsman Darren Bravo is the other player to make a big impact in the latest rankings.
The 27-year-old left-hander, who played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia, scored 87 and 116 in the Test in which the West Indies went down fighting. Consequently, Bravo has returned to the top 20 where he has joined Pakistan’s Sarfaraz Ahmed in 20th position after rising eight places.
Last time Bravo enjoyed a place inside the top 20 was in June 2014, when he figured in 19th position. His career-high ranking remains 15th, which he had achieved against New Zealand in Dunedin in December 2013.
Bravo and Sarfaraz now have an opportunity to improve their rankings as they trail New Zealand’s 19th-ranked Ross Taylor by 13 points.
Marlon Samuels, who scored 76 and four, is the other batsman to head in the right direction. He has moved up five places to 40th, while Pakistan opener Sami Aslam has jumped 19 places to share 58th position with Martin Guptill of New Zealand. Jason Holder is just five points and one place behind the duo of Sami and Guptill.
Steve Smith is the number-one ranked Test batsman and he leads England’s second-ranked Joe Root by 28 points. Hashim Amla of South Africa is third.
Apart from Bishoo, Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz is the other bowler to achieve a career-high ranking to date. The left-arm fast bowler picked up two for 65 and one for 47, and, as such, has moved up three places to 26th.
Mohammad Amir’s three wickets in the second innings have helped him gain four places and 60th position in the latest rankings.
Yasir Shah of Pakistan, who completed 100 wickets in his 17th Test while taking seven wickets in the match, has retained his sixth position but has gained three points for his achievement.
The bowling table is headed by India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, with Dale Steyn of South Africa second and England’s James Anderson third.
Bangladesh v England
Meanwhile, the two-Test series between Bangladesh and England starts in Chittagong on Thursday. Fourth-ranked England (108 points) leads ninth-ranked Bangladesh (57 points) by 51 points. And because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, England’s failure to win the series convincingly will result in it dropping points.
If England wins the series 1-0, there will be no change to its pre-series position, but it will move ahead of Australia in third place on 109 points if it wins both the Tests.
In contrast, Bangladesh will jump to 72 points in case of a 1-0 win, while a 2-0 will put it on 75 points. A 1-0 defeat will mean England will slip to 103 points and 102 points in case of a 2-0 defeat.
Forthcoming Tests:
Pakistan v West Indies
21-25 Oct – 2nd Test, Abu Dhabi
30 Oct-3 Nov – 3rd Test, Sharjah
Bangladesh v England
20-24 October – 1st Test, Chittagong
28 Oct-1 Nov – 2nd Test, Mirpur
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 18 October, before the start of Bangladesh and England series)
Rank Team Points
1. India 115
2. Pakistan 111
3. Australia 108
4. England 108
5. South Africa 96
6. Sri Lanka 95
7. New Zealand 91
8. West Indies 67
9. Bangladesh 57
10. Zimbabwe 8
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 18 October, after Dubai Test)
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Steve Smith Aus 906 58.55 936 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
2 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 878 54.86 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 847 51.16 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 841 50.31 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 837 53.72 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
6 ( – ) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 825! 51.37 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
7= ( – ) Adam Voges Aus 802* 72.75 824 v SL at Galle 2016
( – ) AB de Villiers SA 802 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
9 ( – ) David Warner Aus 772 48.63 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
10 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 770 47.31 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
11 ( – ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 755 48.22 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014
12 (+5) Azhar Ali Pak 754! 46.27 754 v WI at Dubai 2016
13 (-1) Jonny Bairstow Eng 744! 41.63 744 v Pak at The Oval 2016
14= ( – ) Angelo Mathews SL 731 47.16 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014
( – ) C. Pujara Ind 731 49.22 851 v SA at Durban 2013
16 (-3) Asad Shafiq Pak 719 42.65 758 v Eng at Lord’s 2016
17 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 718 45.56 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
18 (-1) D. Chandimal SL 692! 44.25 692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016
19 (+1) Ross Taylor NZ 675 46.24 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
20= (-1) Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 662 42.97 715 v SL at Galle 2015
(+8) Darren Bravo WI 662 41.11 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
26 (-1) Tamim Iqbal Ban 626 39.46 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
27 (-1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 625 39.76 629 v Pak at Mirpur 2015
28 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 617! 34.61 617 v Pak at The Oval 2016
35 (-4) K. Brathwaite WI 567 33.75 591 v Eng at Grenada 2015
39 ( – ) Mushfiqur Rahim Ban 526 32.31 604 v Zim at Mirpur 2014
40= (+5) Marlon Samuels WI 525 33.22 672 v Zim at Barbados 2013
( – ) Kaushal Silva SL 525 30.89 638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015
( – ) Gary Ballance Eng 525* 43.40 702 v WI at Grenada 2015
44 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 521 33.23 594 v Aus at Lord’s 2015
47= ( – ) Mahmudullah Ban 509! 31.37 509 v SA at Mirpur 2015
Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
1 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 900! 24.29 900 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 878 22.24 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
3 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 870 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016
4 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 836 28.52 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
5 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 831 28.71 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
6 ( – ) Yasir Shah Pak 809 27.89 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016
7 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 805* 23.52 809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
8 ( – ) Mitchell Starc Aus 792! 27.36 792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016
9 ( – ) Neil Wagner NZ 731* 29.63 760 v SA at Centurion 2016
10 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 723 22.09 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
11= ( – ) Trent Boult NZ 715 29.56 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
( – ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 715* 26.40 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
13 ( – ) Morne Morkel SA 710 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 ( – ) Nathan Lyon Aus 677 32.80 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016
15 ( – ) Dilruwan Perera SL 645* 28.35 658 v Aus at Galle 2016
16 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 637 32.63 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014
17 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 614 33.29 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
18 ( – ) Chris Woakes Eng 609*! 26.07 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016
19 ( – ) Peter Siddle Aus 602 29.88 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
20 ( – ) D. Prasad SL 583* 35.97 632 v WI at Colombo (PSS) 2015
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge HS Rating
25 ( – ) Steven Finn Eng 543 30.01 624 v NZ at Headingley 2013
26 (+3) Wahab Riaz Pak 509*! 34.66 509 v WI at Dubai 2016
27 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 498* 37.58 508 v Pak at Old Trafford 2016
30 (+11) Devendra Bishoo WI 482*! 36.76 482 v Pak at Dubai 2016
31 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 474* 42.03 557 v SA at Durban 2015
42 (+1) Taijul Islam Ban 375* 33.94 446 v Pak at Khulna 2015
45 (-5) Sohail Khan Pak 356* 43.20 387 v Eng at The Oval 2016
47 ( – ) Mark Wood Eng 327* 34.40 369 v Pak at Dubai 2015
48 ( – ) Shannon Gabriel WI 317* 40.82 360 v Zim at Dominica 2013
50 ( – ) Jubair Hossain Ban 313*! 30.81 313 v SA at Mirpur 2015
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 451! 451 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
3= ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 292*/*! 292 v NZ at Indore 2016
( – ) Moeen Ali Eng 292 /*! 292 v Pak at The Oval 2016
5 ( – ) Mitchell Starc Aus 279! 279 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016