In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, South Africa’s Dale Steyn will be under pressure to perform strongly in Durban, otherwise he’ll drop from the top spot for the first time since February 2014.

Steyn first achieved the number-one ranking in July 2009 and has finished as the top-ranked bowler each year except in 2013, when Vernon Philander leapfrogged him in December and occupied the coveted position for 56 days.

Steyn’s failure to shine with the ball will hand the number-one ranking to India’s Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin is on a career-high 871 points, just four points behind Steyn.

England’s James Anderson is in third position, 29 points behind, while his team-mate Stuart Broad is in fifth position. Like the batsmen, the top five bowlers are separated by 35 points.

ICC Test Players Rankings - Bowlers (top 10)

Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Ranking

1 Dale Steyn SA 875 22.56 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
2 R. Ashwin Ind 871! 25.39 871 v SA at Delhi 2015
3= James Anderson Eng 846 28.96 847 v WI at Barbados 2015
Yasir Shah Pak 846*! 24.17 846 v Eng at Sharjah 2015
5 Stuart Broad Eng 840 29.12 852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
6 Josh Hazlewood Aus 792*! 22.65 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
7 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 789*! 23.76 789 v SA at Delhi 2015
8 Trent Boult NZ 787 28.28 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
9 Vernon Philander SA 746 22.08 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
10 Tim Southee NZ 731 31.47 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014