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Smith consolidates top spot as 11 points separate second-ranked Pujara from fifth-ranked Kohli

Smith consolidates top spot as 11 points separate second-ranked Pujara from fifth-ranked Kohli

India Blooms News Service | @indiablooms | 28 Nov 2017, 12:29 pm

Dubai, Nov 28 (IBNS) : Australia captain Steve Smith has extended his lead at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, but the next four batsmen are separated by just 11 points in the latest rankings which were released on Tuesday following the conclusion of the Brisbane and Nagpur Tests.

Smith stroked a magnificent unbeaten 141, his 21st century in his 57th Test, which was the cornerstone of Australia’s 10-wicket victory over England in Brisbane. For his performance, Smith has gained five points to rise to 941 points, making him joint-fifth in terms of the highest points tally in batting history in Tests behind Sir Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942) and Ricky Ponting (942), and at par with Peter May (941).

If Smith is able to produce another strong performance in the day/night Test at the Adelaide Oval, then he has a solid chance of leapfrogging Hutton, Hobbs, Ponting and May into second place behind Bradman.

Among the other noticeable changes, India’s Cheteshwar Pujara has returned to number-two ranking after scoring 143 in his side’s huge victory by an innings and 239 runs in Nagpur. He had first peaked to second following the Ranchi Test against Australia in March, while the last time he was second was following his 133 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in August.

Pujara has been rewarded with 22 points, which have lifted him from fourth to second on a career-high 888 points. The 29-year-old, who plays for Saurashtra in India’s domestic competitions, now leads his fifth-ranked captain Virat Kohli by 11 points. Kohli has vaulted from 817 points to 877 points after scoring his fifth career double-century in 62 Tests.

England captain Joe Root is sitting third and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is occupying fourth spot, while sixth-ranked David Warner of Australia is another 51 points behind Kohli.

Smith, who led Root by 47 points before the start of the Brisbane and Nagpur Tests, now leads Pujara by 53 points.

India opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma, who were the other centurions in the just-concluded Tests, have also made impressive gains. Vijay has risen eight places to 28thposition, while Rohit has shot up seven places to 46th spot.

Other batsmen making upward movements in the latest rankings include Dinesh Chandimal 17th (up by six places), Moeen Ali 26th (up by three places) and Shaun Marsh 43rd (up by two places), while some of the leading batsmen heading in the wrong direction include Joe Root third (down by one), Lokesh Rahul ninth (down by one), Alistair Cook 14th (down by four), Ajinkya Rahane 15th (down by two), Dimuth Karunaratne 18th (down by one), Usman Khawaja 23rd (down by four), Shikhar Dhawan 29th (down by one), Angelo Mathews 30th (down by six) and Niroshan Dickwella 42nd (down by five).

In the bowlers’ rankings, Ravindra Jadeja has reclaimed second position following his match figures of five for 84, while Mitchell Starc has returned to the top 10 in 10th position after his match figures of six for 128 helped him to gain three places.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest man to 300 wickets in Tests, has consolidated his fourth position by gaining nine points which have put him on 849 points. The India off-spinner is now 42 points behind number-one ranked James Anderson who has dropped five points after claiming two wickets in the Brisbane Test.

Other bowlers to improve their rankings include Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma of India, who have moved up one place each to 28th and 30th respectively, and Pat Cummins of Australia, who has jumped six places to claim 45th position.

In the all-rounders’ rankings, Ashwin has returned to third place in the list which is headed by Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.

New Zealand v Windies: Meanwhile, the two-Test series between New Zealand and the Windies commences at the Basin Reserve in Wellington from Friday. Fourth-ranked New Zealand (97) lead eighth-ranked Windies (75) by 22 points. This means the hosts will gain one point if they win by 1-0 and three points in case of a 2-0 win.

In contrast, the Windies will earn four points for a 1-0 win and six points for a 2-0 win. If the Windies win both the Tests, then New Zealand will drop to as low as sixth on 91 points.


Upcoming Tests:

1-5 December – 1st Test, New Zealand v Windies, Wellington

2-6 December – 2nd Ashes Test, Adelaide (d/n)

2-6 December – India v Sri Lanka, 3rd Test, Delhi

9-13 December – 2nd Test, New Zealand v Windies, Hamilton

14-18 December – 3rd Ashes Test, Perth

26-30 December – 4th Ashes Test, Melbourne

26-29 December – One-day Test, South Africa v Zimbabwe, Port Elizabeth (d/n)

4-8 January – 5th Ashes Test, Sydney

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 28 November, before the start of New Zealand v Windies series):

Rank      Team                   Points

1.      India                     125

2.      South Africa         111

3.      England                105

4.      New Zealand        97

5.      Australia               97

6.      Sri Lanka              94

7.      Pakistan               88

8.      West Indies          75

9.      Bangladesh          72

10.   Zimbabwe            02

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 28 November after Brisbane and Nagpur Tests, and before the start of New Zealand v Windies series):

BATSMEN (top 10)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         Steve Smith         Aus        941!      61.23    941 v Eng at Brisbane 2017

   2         (+2)        C. Pujara              Ind         888!      53.38    888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

   3         (-1)         Joe Root              Eng        881        53.35    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         (-1)         K. Williamson       NZ          880        51.16    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   5         ( - )         Virat Kohli            Ind         877        51.82    895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

   6         ( - )         David Warner       Aus        826        48.48    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   7         ( - )         Hashim Amla       SA          795        49.87    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   8         (+1)        Azhar Ali              Pak        755        46.62    787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

   9         (-1)         Lokesh Rahul       Ind         735*      44.62    761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

  10        (+1)        Dean Elgar           SA          732        42.30    740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

Selected Rankings (top 50)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

  13        (+3)        Ross Taylor          NZ          705        47.10    871 v Win at Hamilton 2013

  14        (-4)         Alastair Cook       Eng        704        46.00    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  15=      ( - )         Jonny Bairstow    Eng        698        39.38    772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

              (-2)         Ajinkya Rahane    Ind         698        45.40    825 v NZ at Indore 2016

  17        (+6)        D. Chandimal       SL          682        42.41    692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

  18        (-1)         D. Karunaratne    SL          668        36.06    700 v Pak at Dubai 2017

  19        (+1)        K. Brathwaite       Win        657        36.74    701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  23=      (-4)         U. Khawaja          Aus        645        44.58    747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

              (+2)        Shai Hope            Win        645*      35.42    653 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017

  26        (+3)        Moeen Ali             Eng        632        34.79    655 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

  28        (+8)        Murali Vijay          Ind         624        40.64    747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

  29        (-1)         S. Dhawan           Ind         621        43.72    627 v SL at Kolkata 2017

  30        (-6)         A. Mathews          SL          620        44.05    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

  32        (-1)         Jeet Raval            NZ          611*!     44.81    611 v SA at Hamilton 2017

  34        (-1)         Tom Latham         NZ          607        38.84    640 v Ban at Christchurch 2017

  35        (-1)         Kusal Mendis       SL          595        33.51    692 v Aus at Galle 2016

  36        (-1)         BJ Watling            NZ          593        38.05    644 v Eng at Headingley 2015

  37        ( - )         Roston Chase      Win        576*      40.25    626 v Pak at Dominica 2017

  38        (+1)        Darren Bravo       Win        575        40.00    709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

  42        (-5)         N. Dickwella         SL          556*      33.57    576 v Ind at Kolkata 2017

  43        (+2)        Shaun Marsh       Aus        553        36.35    591 v SA at Perth 2016

  46        (+7)        Rohit Sharma       Ind         539*      40.18    578 v NZ at Wellington 2014

48        (-1)         Henry Nicholls      NZ          512*      31.94    536 v SA at Wellington 2017

 

BOWLERS (top 10)

 

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         J. Anderson          Eng        891        27.43    896 v Win at Lord's 2017

   2         (+1)        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         880        23.43    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   3         (-1)         Kagiso Rabada    SA          876!      22.71    876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

   4         ( - )         R. Ashwin             Ind         849        25.06    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   5         ( - )         Rangana Herath  SL          807        28.04    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   6         ( - )         Josh Hazlewood  Aus        798        25.75    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

   7         ( - )         Nathan Lyon        Aus        753!      31.78    753 v Eng at Brisbane 2017

   8         ( - )         Dale Steyn           SA          748        22.30    909 v Win at Centurion 2014

   9         ( - )         Neil Wagner         NZ          745        28.90    767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

  10        (+3)        Mitchell Starc       Aus        744        28.08    805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

 

Selected rankings (top 50)

 

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

  11        (-1)         Stuart Broad         Eng        743        28.77    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

  12        (-1)         V. Philander         SA          736        22.45    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

  13        (-1)         Trent Boult           NZ          732        28.75    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

  16        ( - )         Tim Southee        NZ          687        31.55    799 v Win at Jamaica 2014

  18        ( - )         M. Shami              Ind         641*      30.31    647 v SL at Kolkata 2017

  19        ( - )         K. Maharaj           SA          638*      26.33    644 v Ban at Potchefstroom 2017

  20        ( - )         S. Gabriel             Win        610*      34.00    636 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  21        (+2)        D. Bishoo             Win        602!      36.01    602 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017

  22        (-1)         Moeen Ali             Eng        600        37.49    633 v Win at Edgbaston 2017

  23        (+1)        Kemar Roach       Win        598        29.46    774 v SA at Centurion 2014

  24        (-2)         D. Perera             SL          592*      33.16    674 v Zim at Harare 2016

  27        ( - )         Umesh Yadav      Ind         578*!     35.90    578 v SL at Nagpur 2017

  28        (+1)        B. Kumar              Ind         538*      27.18    543 v SL at Kolkata 2017

  30        (+1)        Ishant Sharma     Ind         536        36.46    671 v Win at Dominica 2011

  31        (-3)         Suranga Lakmal   SL          514*      43.94    544 v Ind at Kolkata 2017

  32        (+1)        Jason Holder        Win        492*      37.30    498 v Zim at Bulawayo 2017

  33        (-1)         Chris Woakes      Eng        480*      32.21    609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

  34        ( - )         Nuwan Pradeep   SL          468*      42.90    501 v Ind at Galle 2017

  45        (+6)        Pat Cummins       Aus        375*!     25.64    375 v Eng at Brisbane 2017

  46=      (-1)         Mark Craig           NZ          354*      46.52    405 v Aus at Wellington 2016

              (-1)         C. de G’homme    NZ          354*!     25.56    354 v SA at Hamilton 2017

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Highest Rating

   1         ( - )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        438       489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

   2         ( - )         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         414       438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   3         (+1)        R. Ashwin             Ind         389       493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

   4         (-1)         Ben Stokes          Eng        388/*     396 v Win at Lord's 2017

   5         ( - )         Moeen Ali             Eng        379       409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

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