Ashwin and Kohli achieve personal bests in MRF Tyres ICC Test rankings

Ashwin, who had touched the coveted 900-point mark for the first time in October when he had reclaimed the top-ranking, has reached 904 points to run up a 37-point lead over second-placed Rangana Herath of Sri Lanka.

Ashwin’s rating is the second best-ever by an off-spinner after Muttiah Muralidaran (920), fifth best among spinners after Tony Lock (912), Derek Underwood (907) and Shane Warne (905), and the 18th in the overall list.

Ashwin, who grabbed six wickets each in the two innings in Mumbai, had finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year. He is also the top-ranked all-rounder at 483 points and enjoys a healthy lead over Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, who is on 405 points with England’s Ben Stokes third with 341 points.

Ashwin’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja has bridged the gap with Stokes to just one point in the all-rounders’ list after taking six wickets in Mumbai. Jadeja’s continued success has also helped him reach a career-best ranking of sixth among bowlers.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, India captain Virat Kohli has continued his surge towards the top after his player of the match performance of 235 in India’s only innings in Mumbai. The 28-year-old’s highest Test score has earned him 53 points, which has lifted him by one position to a career-best second rank. He is now is in line to top the rankings in all three forms of the game at some point in time.

Kohli, who is currently ranked second in One-Day Internationals and first in Twenty20 Internationals, is just 11 points behind Australia captain Steve Smith, who will get a chance to maintain his top ranking in an upcoming three-Test series against Pakistan.

Other India players to make upward movements among batsmen are opener Murali Vijay and all-rounder Jayant Yadav. Vijay has moved up five places to 24th position after his knock of 136 while Yadav’s 104 runs at number nine position, has pushed him up 31 slots to 56th rank.

For England, debutant opener Keaton Jennings has entered the batsmen’s rankings at an impressive 64thposition after innings of 112 and zero.

Australia v Pakistan:

Australia and Pakistan will go head to head in a three-Test series in Brisbane on Thursday, with both the sides aiming for an upward movement. Australia is currently ranked third on 105 points, while Pakistan is fourth on 102 points.

However, this position will potentially change when the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings are updated following the Chennai Test. If second-ranked England wins the Test, then it will finish on 103 points, but it will end on 101 points if India wins the series 4-0.

The following are Australia v Pakistan series permutations:

Australia wins 3-0: Australia 109 points; Pakistan 97 points
Australia wins 2-0: Australia 108 points; Pakistan 98 points
Australia wins 1-0: Australia 107 points; Pakistan 100 points
Series draw: Australia 104 points; Pakistan 103 points
Pakistan wins 3-0: Pakistan 108 points; Australia 100 points
Pakistan wins 2-0: Pakistan 107 points; Australia 101 points
Pakistan wins 1-0: Pakistan 105 points; Australia 102 points

The predictor function is available here. The Test table is updated at the end of the series, while the ODI and T20I team rankings are updated after each match.

Series schedule:
15-19 December – 1st Test (day/night), Brisbane
26-30 December – 2nd Test, Melbourne
3-7 January – 3rd Test, Sydney

MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings (as of 13 December 2016, before the start of the Australia-Pakistan series)

Rank   Team               Points

India                  115
England             105
Australia            105
Pakistan             102
South Africa      102
New Zealand       96
Sri Lanka             96
West Indies          69
Bangladesh          65
Zimbabwe             5

(Developed by David Kendix)