ICC Test Rankings: The thrilling finale to an epic Ashes series between England and Australia has seen a major shake-up at the top of the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings as many of the world’s best jostle for the premier position. England produced a strong fightback during the second half of the series to tie the Ashes at 2-2 and a host of their best performers were rewarded on the updated rankings lists.
Former skipper Joe Root rises one spot to second on the Test batter rankings with New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson the only player in front of him, while young teammate Harry Brook jumps two places to ninth and a new career-high rating following his 363 runs for the series.
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Compatriots Jonny Bairstow (up two places to 17th) and Zak Crawley (up six rungs to equal 29th) also make some ground on the list for batters, while experienced duo Steve Smith (up three places to third) and Usman Khawaja (up one place to seventh) are the Australian players to climb the standings.
With India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin still maintaining his place at the top of the Test bowler rankings, it is retiring pacer Stuart Broad that makes the biggest move this week after he claimed 22 wickets during the Ashes. Broad improves four spots to fourth overall, with England teammates Mark Wood (up two spots to 21st and a new career-high rating) and Chris Woakes (up eight places to 23rd) also rewarded for their strong finish to the Ashes.
There was some joy for Australia’s bowlers, with veteran pacer Mitchell Starc jumping two rungs to equal 12th after his 23 wickets for the series, while inexperienced spinner Todd Murphy claims a new career-high rating after moving up nine places to 57th.
Pakistan’s unbeaten start to the new ICC World Test Championship cycle has seen a handful of their players make good ground on the rankings, with Abdullah Shafique (up 27 places to 21st), Mohammad Rizwan (up four spots to equal 29th) and Agha Salman (up 23 positions to 35th) shooting up the list for Test batters following the side’s victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Their bowlers were also rewarded, with rising pacer Naseem Shah up seven spots to equal 37th and left-arm spinner Noman Ali improving 13 places to 42nd the most notable improvers. There wasn’t much change to the ODI rankings this week, although experienced India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up eight places to 14th on the list for ODI bowlers following his impressive display with the ball against the West Indies.
Emerging top-order performer Ishan Kishan (up 15 places to equal 45th) moved up the corresponding rankings for ODI batters, after consecutive half centuries to commence the series in the Caribbean.
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