The ICC Men’s Test rankings changed a lot after Australia beat Pakistan easily in a series in Sydney and India bowled so well against South Africa. India and South Africa played the shortest Test match in cricket history at Newlands. On Wednesday, the ICC released new ranks, which were based on fast bowlers who were scoring runs at a very high rate.
Jasprit Bumrah, India’s best fast bowler, passed Ravindra Jadeja to move up to fourth place (787). Mohammed Siraj’s 6/15 and 1/31 helped him move 13 places up and clinch his career-high 17th rank (661). The fast bowler Lungi Ngidi from South Africa moved up nine spots to finish in 28th place. The Australian captain, Pat Cummins, passed Kagiso Rabada, who showed a lot of class.
The captain of the team that won the World Cup went up to second place on the list (858). As a reward for his great play, the Australian leader was named Player of the Series after the Pakistan series was over. Josh Hazlewood, Cummins’ teammate, had a good set too. He has been in great shape lately. He went up from eleventh to seventh place, tied with England’s James Anderson for seventh place with 761 runs.
Marnus Labuschagne of Australia moved up to fourth place (802 runs), but he is still a long way behind his friend Steve Smith (818 runs), who is now in third place. Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan moved up 10 spots to 17th with scores of 88 and 28. Aiden Markram moved into the top 20 with a strong ton on a tricky Newlands course (667). After the series was over, Virat Kohli (775) moved up to sixth place and Rohit Sharma (748) moved up to tenth.
In one-day internationals (ODIs), Sri Lanka’s two games against Zimbabwe caused a lot of swings in the rankings. The one that stood out was the bowling part of the game. With four wickets in the games, Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana reached a career high rating of 634 and a rank of 11th. The most important move on the batting side came from Charith Asalanka of Sri Lanka, who scored 101 runs and moved into the top 20.
