India make stronger its position on ICC Test Ranking

Lahore : Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja’s maiden 10-wicket match haul against England in Chennai has propelled him to second position behind teammate and India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Jadeja’s performance has earned him 66 points and brought him within eight points of Ashwin.

This is just the second time the top two spots in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers have been occupied by India players, with the pair emulating left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi and leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, who were ranked one and two in 1974.

Jadeja grabbed 10-154 in the final Test and finished with 26 wickets in the five-match series while Ashwin ended with 28 wickets as India completed a 4-0 series victory, culminating with an innings and 75 runs win in Chennai.

Jadeja, who leapfrogged Josh Hazlewood, James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Rangana Herth, has also gained one place to reach a career-best third rank in the list of all-rounders, also led by Ashwin.

Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc is another one to rise in the rankings as he has moved up two slots to a career-best sixth position after taking seven wickets in the first Test against Pakistan in Brisbane, which his team won by 39 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Pace bowlers Ishant Sharma of India (up two places to 23^rd rank), Wahab Riaz of Pakistan (up two places to a career-best 24^th rank) and Australia’s Jackson Bird (up five places to 48^th) are the others to make upward movements.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, India’s Lokesh Rahul and Karun Nair have made huge gains. Rahul’s knock of 199 has helped him gain 29 slots to reach a career-best 51^st position while Nair’s unbeaten 303 in only his third Test innings has lifted him 122 places to 55^th position.

Pakistan’s Younus Khan has moved up one place to eighth position, Azhar Ali has gained one slot to reach 16^thrank, while Asad Shafiq has moved up five places to 20^th rank after scoring two and 137 in Brisbane. Australia batsman Usman Khawaja has reached a career-best 18^th rank after knocks of four and 74.

South Africa v Sri Lanka:

South Africa takes on Sri Lanka on home soil in a three-Test series starting on December 26 with the chance of going up to second or third position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings led by India with 120 points and with Australia on 105 points. The rankings will, however, depend on the outcome of an ongoing series between Australia and Pakistan which ends before this series.

The following are the South Africa v Sri Lanka permutations:

• South Africa wins 3-0: South Africa 107, Sri Lanka 92
• South Africa wins 2-0: South Africa 105, Sri Lanka 93
• South Africa wins 1-0 or 2-1: South Africa 104, Sri Lanka 94
• Drawn series: South Africa 101, Sri Lanka 97
• Sri Lanka wins 3-0: Sri Lanka 102, South Africa 95
• Sri Lanka wins 2-0: Sri Lanka 101, South Africa 96
• Sri Lanka wins 1-0 or 2-1: Sri Lanka 99, South Africa 98

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 21 December, before the South Africa v Sri Lanka series)

 Rank Team              Points

1          India                120

2          Australia         105

3          Pakistan          102

4          South Africa   102

5          England           101

6          New Zealand     96

7          Sri Lanka          96

8          West Indies       69

9          Bangladesh       65

10        Zimbabwe         05