Azhar Ali Finishes 2016 At Career-Best Sixth Position In ICC Test Rankings
Dec 31, 2016 at 4:01 PM
Pakistan opener Azhar Ali has surged to a career-best sixth rank in the recently-released ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after scoring a magnificent double-century against Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG).
The right-handed batsman, who had scored a triple-century against the West Indies in October this year, jumped up 10 places to get into the top 10 of the rankings. The 31-year-old began the year at the 20th spot in Tests but consistent performance throughout the year has catapulted him to his career-best rank. The Pakistani batsman ended the year with 1198 runs in 11 matches, including three centuries and four half-centuries.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Test skipper Steven Smith will finish the year as the top-ranked batsman in the longest format of the game. The 27-year-old, who scored centuries in the first two Tests against Pakistan in the ongoing series, hit 1079 runs this year that has helped him achieve a career-best 937 rating points in Tests.
Smith’s compatriot David Warner, who scored 144 in Melbourne, has also jumped two places to claim the fifth spot while Usman Khawaja, who fell three runs short of a well-deserved century in the Boxing Day Test, has jumped five places to move to a career-best 13th position.
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara are the only Indian batsmen in top 10. The Indian skipper is second in the rankings while Pujara is 10th.
In bowling, Indian spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will finish 2016 as the top two bowlers in Tests. On the other hand, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott will finish the year with their career-best rankings after bagging four and five wickets respectively in the recently-concluded Test against Sri Lanka. Rabada has managed to hold on to his 17th spot while Abbott has jumped seven positions to move to 21st.