DUBAI, Mar 8: Premier India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lost six rating points but still remained joint number one Test bowler with England quick James Anderson in the ICC rankings released on Wednesday.
Ashwin, who surged to No. 1 in Test bowling rankings last week, took just four wickets in the two innings in the third Test against Australia in Indore. Australia won the match by nine wickets to secure their first victory on Indian soil since 2017.
It meant it’s now a tie at the top with both Ashwin and Anderson occupying the pole position with 859 points each.
The battle to become the top Test bowler in the world has also heated up with Australian captain Pat Cummins and South African speed gun Kagiso Rabada and spinner Nathan Lyon in striking distance.
Cummins, who pulled out of the final two Tests in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series because of personal reasons, has seen his rating drop to 849 points but the pacer still maintained his place in third spot.
Meanwhile, South Africa pacer Rabada, who bagged eight wickets in their 87-run win over the West Indies in the first Test at Centurion, improved three spots to fourth and up to 807 rating points.
Australia spinner Lyon also had an eye-catching move inside the top 10, improving five places to ninth overall (769 rating points) following his match-winning 11-wicket haul in Indore.
In the ranking of the Test batters, Australia opener Usman Khawaja moved up two places to ninth overall.
South Africa right-hander Aiden Markram shot up 21 places to 33rd, while the West Indies middle-order batter Jermaine Blackwood was up 12 spots to 35.
There was also plenty of movement on the latest ODI Player Rankings, following the completion of England’s series in Bangladesh.
England opener Jason Roy improved five places to 12 overall on the list for batters, while his skipper Jos Buttler was up four spots to 16th and the experienced Dawid Malan went up by 22 spots to 35th.
Bangladesh star Shakib Al Hasan, who holds the No. 1 position in the ODI all-rounders’ rankings, went up five places to 27th on the list of batters and two spots to fifth among bowlers. (PTI)
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