cricket

Updated: Dec 20, 2018 19:16 IST

India skipper Virat Kohli can breathe easy once again as he has extended his lead at the top of the batting charts in the latest ICC Test Rankings issued on Thursday. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was breathing down his neck after the Abu Dhabi knock against Pakistan, but with another century to his name, Kohli has taken a handy lead.

Interestingly, pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah is also taking giant strides in the Test rankings for bowlers with his impressive show in the ongoing series against Australia. Bumrah, who bagged five wickets in the second Test against Australia, yet again made a significant move, climbing five places to No.28.

Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood have moved up to No.7 and No.9 respectively in the latest rankings after inspiring their side to an impressive victory over India in the Perth Test. Lyon, the 31-year-old right-arm spinner, has been rewarded for his match-winning haul of 8/106 in Australia’s convincing 146-run series-levelling win, climbing seven spots, while Hazlewood’s figures of 2/66 and 2/24 moved him up two places in the latest rankings, which were released on Thursday, 20 December.

Bumrah’s India teammates — Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma — too climbed up the ladder. Shami, who remained wicket-less in the first innings and returned with 6/56 in the second, moved up by two slots to No.21, while Ishant’s five wickets have helped him overtake England spinner Moeen Ali to take 26th place among bowlers.

Opener Usman Khawaja, whose gritty knock of 72 in the second innings helped Australia set India a target of 287, moved up one slot to No.12. Tim Paine jumped from No.55 to No.46 while Travis Head moved up 17 slots to No.63 and Finch up by 17 to No.72. Meanwhile, India’s Ajinkya Rahane has gained three places to No.15 and Rishabh Pant has jumped 11 spots to a career-high No.48.

The ICC Test Rankings for all-rounders too saw players from both the sides moving up the ranks with Lyon, who was also the Player of the Match, moving up four places to No. 15, Hazlewood up by four slots to No.25 and Shami with a leap of five places to No.35. Bumrah entered the top-100 charts after moving up six slots and now sits at No.99.

India’s Hanuma Vihari made significant moves in all the three rankings charts. He climbed up to No.65 in the all-rounders’ list, and now ranks No.84 (up by 15 places) and 110 (up by 12 places) in the bowling and batting charts respectively.

Following the conclusion of the first Test between New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Wellington, which ended up in a draw, players from those sides too made notable moves in the rankings.

New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, who bagged eight wickets, rose by four places to No.11 among bowlers, while Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Kumara climbed from No.48 to No.44.

Sri Lanka’s star batsmen, Angelo Mathews and Kusal Mendis, whose centuries denied New Zealand a chance to win the Test, jumped to 16th spot from No.24, and to No.18 respectively. Niroshan Dickwella moved up nine spots to joint No.40.

Tom Latham, who registered a record highest individual score of 264* by an opener carrying his bat, surpassing Alistair Cook’s previous record of 244*, now sits at No.22 after making a significant jump of 15 slots.

Mathews also climbed up in the all-rounders’ chart, taking up the 42nd position and his teammate Dhananjaya de Silva moved up by 13 places to No.56.

(With ICC inputs)