England opener Alastair Cook has signed off from international cricket on a remarkable note, moving into the top-10 of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after a Player of the Match performance in the final Test against India at The Oval.
The left-hander’s scores of 71 and 147 made him only the fifth man in history to notch a century in his first and last Test matches, and also helped his side win by 118 runs to complete a 4-1 win in the five-match series. This memorable performance lifted the 33-year-old 11 positions to 10th in the latest rankings, which were released on Wednesday morning.
Cook had achieved a career-high ranking of second in September 2011 after he had scored a Test best 294 against India at Edgbaston. This was the same year when Cook won the prestigious ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.
The former England captain has ended an impressive career with the third-best ranking for a retiring England batsman after Wally Hammond (fifth) and Geoff Boycott (eighth). However, he has finished in a higher position than any of the batsmen who scored more runs then him in the pinnacle format. Jacques Kallis hung his boots in 12th position, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid both ended their careers in 18th spot and Ricky Ponting finished in 26th place.
Apart from winning the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2011, Cook was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 (as captain). He also made his way in the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2012, the year in which he reached his career-best fifth position in ODIs during the month of June.
India captain Virat Kohli may have failed in his last innings on the tour, but he has finished as the number-one ranked batsman in world. He had started the series 27 points behind Australia’s Steve Smith and finished one point ahead of his closest rival.
Kohli had first reached the top of the world after the Edgbaston Test and then reclaimed the top spot after the Trent Bridge Test. He will now defend his number-one ranking in the two-Test home series against the West Indies, which starts on 4 October.
In other movements amongst the batsmen, captain Joe Root has moved up one place to fourth position after a fine knock of 125 in the second innings while other England batsmen to gain in the rankings include Jos Buttler (up nine places to 23rd) and Moeen Ali (up five places to 43rd).
India’s Lokesh Rahul and Rishabh Pant have made big gains in the latest rankings update. Rahul has advanced 16 places to 19th position after his knock of 149 and Pant has moved up 63 places to 111th position after his 114 in only his third Test match.
Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 86 in the first innings has helped him gain 12 places to reach 58th among batsmen while he has also moved up one place in the all-rounder’s list to second position.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, England fast bowler James Anderson started and finished the series in number-one ranking. After the Lord’s Test, Anderson reached a career-high 903 points. Anderson started the series with 892 points and finished just one point shy of the coveted 900-point mark.
Other bowlers to make an upward movement after The Oval Test include Ben Stokes (up one place to 27th), Adil Rashid (up six places to 44th) and Sam Curran (up four places to 51st) all advancing after taking three wickets each.
Meanwhile, England have advanced to fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings. They have gained eight points to move above New Zealand to 105 points and just one point behind South Africa and Australia, who are both on 106 points with the former marginally ahead on decimal points.
India remain the top side in the format but the result has seen them lose 10 points and slip to 115 points.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 12 September, following the England v India Test series):
RANK TEAM POINTS
- India 115 (-10)
- South Africa 106
- Australia 106
- England 105 (+8)
- New Zealand 102
- Sri Lanka 97
- Pakistan 88
- West Indies 77
- Bangladesh 67
- Zimbabwe 02
- Afghanistan 00
- Ireland 00
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 September, following the England-India Test series):
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 930 53.92 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
2 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
3 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 (+1) Joe Root Eng 835 51.04 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
5 (-1) David Warner Aus 820 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 772 49.57 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 ( - ) D. Karunaratne SL 754! 37.28 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( - ) D. Chandimal SL 733 44.96 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 ( - ) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 (+11) Alastair Cook Eng 709 45.35 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
11 (-1) Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
12 (-1) Ross Taylor NZ 697 47.22 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
13 (-1) Kraigg Brathwaite Win 695 37.94 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
14 (-1) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 (-1) Azhar Ali Pak 672 44.84 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
16 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
17 ( - ) Kusal Mendis SL 641 36.78 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
18 (-2) Jonny Bairstow Eng 637 37.19 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
19 (+16) Lokesh Rahul Ind 635 38.53 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
20 (-2) Usman Khawaja Aus 633 42.00 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 899 26.84 903 v Ind at Lord's 2018
2 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 (+1) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4 (-1) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 814 23.65 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
5 ( - ) Pat Cummins Aus 800*! 23.81 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
6 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 795 27.84 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
7 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 791 27.95 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
8 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 769 25.59 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
9 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 765 28.26 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
10 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 759 26.84 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
11 ( - ) Shannon Gabriel Win 757! 29.57 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
12 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 734 28.92 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
13 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 732*! 29.35 732 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
14= ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 720 30.82 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 720 28.17 805 v SA at Durban 2018
16 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 710 32.21 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
17 ( - ) Keshav Maharaj SA 692* 27.65 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
18 ( - ) Yasir Shah Pak 683 29.44 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
19 (+1) Kemar Roach Win 667 28.31 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
20 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 665 31.87 705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 (+1) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 383 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 (-1) Vernon Philander SA 370 378 v SL at Galle 2018
4 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 355/*! 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
5 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 343 493 v Eng 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
