Riding on his stunning performance in the second Test against England, India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has moved to the top of the ICC Rankings for Test bowlers for the first time in his career. He has also become the first Indian pacer to achieve the incredible milestone.
The right-arm pacer played a key role as India thrashed England by 106 runs in Vishakhapatnam to draw level in the five-match series. In the first innings, England were comfortably placed at 114 for 1 before Jasprit Bumrah ran through their middle-order and helped India bowl out the tourists for 253. He finished the innings with figures of 6 for 45.
He made a big impact in the second innings as well. The fast-bowler dismissed Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley to help India win the Test. He was adjudged the Player of the Match for his 9-wicket match haul and has now been rewarded with the top spot in the ICC Rankings.
He has displaced his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin from the top spot. The off-spinner has now dropped to the third spot in ICC Rankings. The Tamil Nadu ace, who was at the top of the rankings since March last year, managed just three wickets in the second Test. South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada is at the second spot
ICC Rankings for Test batsmen:
India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has also made a significant gain in the latest ICC Rankings for Test batters. The southpaw starred with the bat in the second Test as he led India’s charge with the bat by scoring a stunning double century.
While no other Indian player could even touch the 40-run mark in the first innings, Jaiswal held firm and scored 209 runs to help his side post 396. Thanks to the stunning knock, he has climbed 37 places to 29th on the latest ICC rankings for Test batters.
New Zealand’s Kane Williamson is currently at the top of the rankings. The right-handed batsman scored a century in each of the two innings of the recently-concluded first Test against South Africa. Australia’s Steve Smith is at the second spot while England’s Joe Root has dropped to third. Zak Crawley, who scored two fifties in the second Test against India, has jumped eight spots to 22nd.
