LAHORE – Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reclaimed the number one spot in Test rankings for bowlers on Wednesday following a career-best match haul of 13 for 140 in the third Test against New Zealand in Indore.
According to International Cricket Council’s website, Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests.
Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin, who also holds the top position in rankings for all-rounders, has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.
For New Zealand, opener Martin Guptill has moved up 10 places to 58th with knocks of 72 and 29 while Jimmy Neesham has moved up 12 slots to 70th position.
In the all-rounders’ list, India’s Ravindra Jadeja has reached a career-best joint-third rank.
Pakistan v West Indies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Pakistan hosts the West Indies in a three-Test series in the UAE, which starts with a day-night match in Dubai on Thursday.
Pakistan’s players would be eyeing the opportunity to move up the rankings even though the team does not have a chance to reclaim the number-one ranking from India even with a 3-0 win.
Fourth-ranked Younus Khan, who is just two points behind South Africa batsman Hashim Amla’s tally of 847 points, will miss the opening Test because of illness but 11th-ranked Misbah has a chance to overtake England batsman Alastair Cook, whom he trails by just six points.
Asad Shafiq (13th), Azhar Ali (17th) and Sarfraz Ahmed (19th) would also be looking to move towards the top 10 by dominating a side they blanked 3-0 in both an ODI series as well as a Twenty20 series that preceded the Tests.
See the complete list of ICC Test rankings Here.
Leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who is just five wickets away from 100 wickets and a permanent ranking, is Pakistan’s leading bowler at sixth position while pace bowler Wahab Riaz is ranked 29th.
For West Indies, Darren Bravo (28th), Kraigg Brathwaite (31st) and Marlon Samuels (46th) are the leading batsmen while pace bowler Kemar Roach (23rd), leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo (41st) and Shannon Gabriel (48th) are in the top-50.
