India’s win in the second Test assures it the No.1 spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings

· Smith overtakes Ponting in reign at the top of batsmen’s rankings

· Shakib overtakes Ashwin to No. 1 spot among all-rounders

· India’s Test win assures it top-ranking on April 1 and $1 million cash prize

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have become the first pair of spinners to be jointly top-ranked in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as Jadeja has caught up with his spin-partner in the rankings released today after the second Test against Australia in Bengaluru.

Jadeja’s seven wickets in the match, which included a crucial six for 63 in the first innings, have helped him move up one rank to reach the top position for the first time in his career. The last time two bowlers shared the top spot was in April 2008 when Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralidaran were at the top.

Ravichandran Ashwin finished with figures of 6 for 41

Ashwin too played an important role in the match, which India won by 75 runs to level the four-match series 1-1, so as not to concede the top ranking. His eight wickets took him past spin legend Bishan Bedi’s tally of 266 wickets and made him the fifth-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 269 wickets.

Australia spinner Nathan Lyon’s eight wickets in the match have lifted him two places to 16th rank while his team’s left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe and India pace bowler Umesh Yadav have gained one place each to reach career-best 28th and 29th places, respectively.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen Australia captain Steve Smith has maintained his reign at the top for 77 Tests, going past Ricky Ponting’s 76 matches and now has the third longest stint at the top among Australians after Steve Waugh (94) and Don Bradman (93).

Steve Smith reached a career-high rating of 941 points after scores of 178 not out and 21 in the Ranchi Test

His team-mates Matt Renshaw has gained six places to reach a career-best 28th rank with knocks of 60 and five while left-hander Shaun Marsh has moved up five places to 37th position with scores of 66 and nine.

India captain Virat Kohli has conceded the second rank to England’s Joe Root after managing only 27 runs in the match and 40 in the series so far. Root is now one point ahead of Kohli at 848 points.

Cheteshwar Pujara’s innings of 17 and 92 have lifted him up five places to sixth rank while Ajinkya Rahane has moved up two places to 15th rank after scoring 17 and 52 in Bangalore. Player of the match Lokesh Rahul has gained 23 places to reach 23rd spot after scores of 90 and 51.

The list of all-rounders saw a change at the top as Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan moved ahead of Ashwin, who has scored only 20 runs in four innings against Australia so far. Ashwin had overtaken Shakib in December 2015.

India’s win in the second Test assures it the No.1 spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings on the April 1 cut-off date and a cash prize of $1 million. The fight is now for the second, third and fourth places.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 8 March, after the first Test between India and Australia in Bengaluru)

Batsmen (top 10)

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

1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 936 59.32 939 v Ind at Pune 2017

2 (+1) Joe Root Eng 848 52.80 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 847 49.90 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

4 ( - ) K.Williamson NZ 823 50.07 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

5 ( - ) David Warner Aus 794 48.27 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

6 (+5) C. Pujara Ind 793 49.84 851 v SA at Durban 2013

7 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 787 49.99 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

8 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 779 47.07 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

9 (-1) Younus Khan Pak 772 53.06 880 v SL at Lahore 2009

10 (-1) Q. de Kock SA 760* 51.04 769 v SL at Cape Town 2017

Other selected rankings

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

15 (+2) A. Rahane Ind 719 45.96 825 v NZ at Indore 2016

23 (+23) Lokesh Rahul Ind 656*! 40.88 656 v Aus at Bengaluru 2017

28 (+6) Matt Renshaw Aus 631*! 53.22 631 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

37 (+5) Shaun Marsh Aus 576* 38.27 591 v SA at Perth 2016

64= (+3) W. Saha Ind 431* 29.82 457 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

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

1= ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 892 24.79 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

(+1) R. Jadeja Ind 892! 23.44 892 v Aus at Bengaluru 2017

3 (-1) J. Hazlewood Aus 863! 24.38 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

4 ( - ) R. Herath SL 827 28.31 867 v Zim at Harare 2016

5 ( - ) K. Rabada SA 821*! 21.76 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

6 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 819 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014

7 ( - ) J.Anderson Eng 810 28.50 884 v SL at Durham 2016

8 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 803 28.54 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

9 ( - ) V. Philander SA 798 21.40 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10= ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 757 28.35 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

(+1) Neil Wagner NZ 757 28.58 760 v SA at Centurion 2016

Other selected rankings

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

16 (+2) Nathan Lyon Aus 654 33.09 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

28 (+1) Steve O'Keefe Aus 528*! 20.86 528 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

29 (+1) Umesh Yadav Ind 517*! 36.53 517 v Aus at Bengaluru 2017

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 (+1) S. Al Hasan Ban 441 443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017

2 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 434 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

3 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 360 407 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

4 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 332 347 v Ind at Pune 2017

5 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 327/* 351 v Ind at Mohali 2016

*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

For more information on player rankings, please click here.