On Tuesday (26th November), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has come up with the latest Test players’ rankings. Steven Smith has maintained the top position in the Test batting rankings, but the Indian captain Virat Kohli has moved up in rating points, and he is very close to regaining this spot.
Recently, we have experienced three Tests together. New Zealand and England played at Mount Maunganui (21-25 November), while Australia and Pakistan fought at Brisbane (21-24 November) and the day/night pink-ball Test match between India and Bangladesh ran at Kolkata (22-24 November). All the hosts won the games by an innings.
Test Batting Rankings: Steven Smith is in 1st position with 931 rating points and Virat Kohli is in the 2nd position with 928 rating points
Australian cricketer Steven Smith scored four runs against Pakistan but has retained the top position in the Test batting rankings with 931 rating points. Indian captain Virat Kohli has also retained the second position in the Test batting rankings with the increased rating points of 928. In the historic day/night Test match at Eden Gardens, Kohli scored 136 runs – joint highest individual score by a captain in a day/night Test match history.
The Indian Test opener Mayank Agarwal has moved up one spot to achieve his new best Test batting rankings – no.10.
New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling scored 205 runs to change the game situation against England. His batting helped him to climb up 12 spots and take up his best-ever Test batting rankings – 12.
Mitchell Santner was the other Kiwi batsman who also played a vital role to change the game situation as he scored 126 runs at the no.8 batting position. He has climbed up 26 places and is now standing in the 72nd spot in Test batting rankings.
English cricketer Ben Stokes has entered to the top 10 positions in Test batting rankings as he is now standing in the ninth spot (+3). He scored 91 and 28 runs in the Test match against the hosts New Zealand.
Meanwhile, Marnus Labuschagne has climbed up 21 spots, and David Warner has moved up six positions in the Test batting rankings after their respective centuries against Pakistan in Brisbane Test. After scoring 154 runs, Warner has achieved the Test batting rankings of 17. On the other hand, Labuschagne scored 185 runs in that same innings and has moved up to the 14th position in Test batting rankings.
The present situation in Test bowling rankings
New Zealand left-arm pacer Neil Wagner has climbed up to the fifth spot as he is now holding the third position in Test bowling rankings. He took eight wickets in the game against England, including one five-wicket haul (3/90 and 5/44).
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is standing in the ninth position in Test bowling rankings along with the Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood took six wickets against Pakistan (2/46 and 4/63) while Ashwin failed to open his wicket column against Bangladesh. Another Australian pacer Pat Cummins is maintaining the top position of the ICC Test bowling rankings.
In the ICC Test bowling rankings, the Indian pacers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have moved up to 17th (+3) and 21st (+1) positions respectively.
Among the New Zealand bowlers, Colin de Grandhomme has climbed up the seven positions (new Test bowling rankings = 35), and Mitchell Santner has moved up six spots (new Test bowling rankings = 52).
