The South African star moves ahead of England's Jimmy Anderson by one point

“It is a surreal feeling. It’s what you dream of achieving when you start playing the game,” says Rabada





Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Marsh brothers achieve career-best rankings

Kagiso Rabada has become the number-one ranked bowler in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after helping South Africa to an exciting 72 run victory over India in the first Test at Newlands on Monday.

Rabada, who was one of the stars in South Africa’s successful campaign in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in the UAE in 2014, returned figures of three for 34 and two for 41 against a star-studded India batting line-up.

For this effort, the 22-year-old has collected five points, while James Anderson, who had entered the Sydney Test as the number-one ranked bowler, dropped by the same number of points following the last Ashes Test. This 10-point swing means the South African has moved ahead of the Englishman by one point after nine points had separated the two fast bowlers leading into the two Tests.

A delighted Rabada said: “It’s special to be ranked as the No.1 Test bowler in the world. It is a surreal feeling. It’s what you dream of achieving when you start playing the game.

“Cricket is ultimately a team sport and I’m thankful for the support from my team mates. It’s a great start to the year personally and for us as a team, hopefully we can continue putting in winning performances."

Rabada is the seventh South Africa bowler to top the ICC Test Bowling Rankings after Aubrey Faulkner, Hugh Tayfield, Peter Pollock, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.

Rabada’s team-mate Philander is the other bowler inside the top-20 to make an impressive gain. For his match figures of nine for 75, which also earned him the player of the match award, the 32-year-old has earned 67 points, which, in turn, has lifted him from 12th to sixth position.

Philander now trails Australia’s sixth-ranked Josh Hazlewood by eight points and has an opportunity to break into the top-five following the Centurion Test, which begins on Saturday, 13 January.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar vaulted 22 places to a career-high 22nd spot in the bowlers' rankings.

Outside the top-20, India’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins of Australia have achieved career-high rankings.

Kumar has vaulted eight places to 22nd following figures of four for 87 and two for 33, while Cummins has leaped eight places and is now in 28th position after match figures of eight for 119, which also earned him the player of the match award.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Australia’s Steve Smith is unchanged on 947 points in first position, but there is some movement just behind him.

England captain Joe Root has leapfrogged India’s Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson of New Zealand’s into fourth position, while India’s Cheteshwar Pujara has slipped from third to fifth.

Root has earned 26 points from the Sydney Test in which he was dismissed once in scoring 141 runs, but Kohli has dropped 13 points after his contributions of five and 28 at Newlands. Pujara’s scores for 26 and four result in his total falling by 25 points.

South Africa’s Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar have slipped three places apiece to finish in 10th and 16th positions respectively, but AB de Villiers has risen five places to 13th with a slot in the top-10 firmly within his sights.

South Africa opener Aiden Markram, who was the player of the tournament in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2014, and India all-rounder Hardik Pandya are the other big movers from the Newlands Test. Markram has moved up six places to 48th, while Pandya is now ranked 49th after rocketing 24 places.

Joe Root leapfrogged Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson in the batsmen's rankings.

India’s Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have also lost ground. Vijay is now 30th after dropping five places, Dhawan has slipped three places to 33rd, while Sharma has ended up 44th after falling three places.

Australia batsmen have a lot to smile about in the latest rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning.

Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Mitchell Marsh have all achieved career-best rankings after stroking excellent centuries in the Sydney Test.

Khawaja, who scored 171 in Australia’s 649 for seven declared, has jumped eight places to 19th after collecting 55 points, Shaun Marsh has earned 42 points for his fine 156 that has moved him from 31st to 20th spot, while his younger brother Mitchell has been rewarded for his 101 with a leap of eight places that has put him in 57th position.

There is no change in the top-five of the all-rounders’ list, which is still headed by Shakib Al Hasan, with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in second and third place, respectively.

The Test player rankings will now be updated at the conclusion of the South Africa v India Test series in Johannesburg.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 9 January, following the conclusion of Australia v England series):

Rank Team Points

India 124

South Africa 111

Australia 104 (+7)

New Zealand 100

England 99 (-6)

Sri Lanka 94

Pakistan 88

Windies 72

Bangladesh 72

Zimbabwe 01

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 9 January, following the conclusion of Cape Town and Sydney Tests):

BATSMEN (top 20)

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

1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 947! 63.75 947 v Eng at Sydney 2018

2 (+2) Joe Root Eng 881 53.28 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 880 53.01 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

4 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 855 50.62 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

5 (-2) C. Pujara Ind 848 52.07 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

6 ( - ) David Warner Aus 827 48.77 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

7 (+2) Azhar Ali Pak 755 46.62 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

8 (+2) D. Chandimal SL 743! 43.94 743 v Ind at Delhi 2017

9 (-1) Alastair Cook Eng 742 46.35 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

10 (-3) Hashim Amla SA 740 49.08 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

11 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 739 48.04 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013

12 ( - ) Lokesh Rahul Ind 720* 44.62 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

13 (+5) AB de Villiers SA 715 50.47 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

14 ( - ) Faf du Plessis SA 710 46.04 718 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

15 ( - ) Quinton de Kock SA 698 42.86 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

16 (-3) Dean Elgar SA 697 41.21 740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

17 (-1) Jonny Bairstow Eng 692 39.12 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

18 (-1) Kraigg Brathwaite Win 690 37.43 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

19 (+8) Usman Khawaja Aus 685 45.80 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

20 (+11) Shaun Marsh Aus 660! 40.87 660 v Eng at Sydney 2018

BOWLERS (top 20)

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

1 (+1) Kagiso Rabada SA 888! 21.96 888 v Ind at Cape Town 2018

2 (-1) James Anderson Eng 887 27.40 896 v Win at Lord's 2017

3 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 861 23.73 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

4 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 830 25.35 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

5 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 814 25.77 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

6 (+6) Vernon Philander SA 806 21.68 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

7 (-1) Rangana Herath SL 799 28.04 867 v Zim at Harare 2016

8 (-1) Neil Wagner NZ 784 27.87 785 v Win at Wellington 2017

9= ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 769 31.64 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

(-1) Mitchell Starc Aus 769 27.73 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

11 (-1) Morne Morkel SA 754 28.39 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

12 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 737 22.32 909 v Win at Centurion 2014

13 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 725 28.56 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

14 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 704 29.44 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

15 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 683 29.33 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

16 (+1) Tim Southee NZ 682 31.45 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014

17 (-1) Keshav Maharaj SA 671* 25.60 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017

18 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 668 32.35 705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

19 ( - ) M. Shami Ind 649*! 30.29 649 v SA at Cape Town 2018

20 ( - ) Kemar Roach Win 612 29.42 774 v SA at Centurion 2014

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 406 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 385 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

4 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 358 /* 396 v Win at Lord's 2017

5 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 331 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

! indicates career-highest rating