Ashwin regains top spot in ICC Test rankings for bowlers; Kohli, Axar make big moves among batters

India’s ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed sole possession of the top spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings for bowlers, released on Wednesday after his haul of 6/91 in the drawn Ahmedabad Test against Australia.

Ashwin was jointly named Player of the Series for his 25 wickets at an average of 17.28. That performance has now propelled him to get on top of rankings and be 10 rating points ahead of veteran England pacer James Anderson.

Talismanic batter Virat Kohli has also advanced seven places to 13th position in the ICC Test Rankings for batters after his Player of the Match effort of 186, ending a drought of 1205 days for a Test century. Australia all-rounder Cameron Green (up 11 places to 26th) and India’s Shubman Gill (up 17 places to 46th) have also progressed after notching centuries in Ahmedabad.

Left-arm spin all-rounder Axar Patel has moved up eight places to 44th on the list for batters and jumping one place to fourth overall on the list for all-rounders following an impressive 264 runs over the four matches.

Australia’s left-handed opener Usman Khawaja’s score of 180 in the drawn fourth Test against India in Ahmedabad has lifted him two spots to seventh position and to a career-best 815 rating points.

Travis Head’s topsy-turvy series ended well with the left-handed middle-order batter, and recently turned opener maintaining his fifth place on the rankings for Test batters at a new career high of 853 rating points.

New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell’s knocks of 102 and 81 in the epic victory over Sri Lanka in Christchurch has helped him reach a career-best eighth position as he touched the 800-point mark for the first time.

Sri Lanka’ Angelo Mathews is another one to move up the Test batting rankings, his scores of 47 and 115 taking him from 19th to 17th position. In the bowlers’ rankings, New Zealand captain Tim Southee went from 18th to 12th position after taking 5/64 and 2/57.

Post the end of South Africa-West Indies series, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma moved up 14 places to 15th overall on the list for Test batters and his teammate Aiden Markram jumped 11 spots to 22nd.

For West Indies, seam-bowling all-rounder Kyle Mayers jumped 10 places to 32nd on the list for Test bowlers and three spots to seventh overall on the list for all-rounders.

In the Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain Shanto’s scores of 51, 46 not out and 47 not out not only won him the Player of the Series award at home against England but have also lifted him 68 places to 16th position. New Delhi, March 15 (IANS)