Kane Williamson has become the first New Zealand batsman and 32nd overall to break the 900-point barrier in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen following a stellar performance in the third Test against Pakistan, which helped his side to win their first away series against the Asian side in 49 years.
Williamson scored 89 and 139 in Abu Dhabi last week, which set up New Zealand’s convincing 123-run victory over Pakistan. This performance not only helped Williamson to win the Player of the Match award but also earn 37 points in the latest player rankings, which, in turn, has allowed him to leapfrog Australia’s Steve Smith into second position on a career-high 913 points.
Richard Hadlee, ICC’s Cricket Hall of Famer, is the only other New Zealand player – with bat or ball – to reach the 900-point mark in the ICC Test rankings. He reached 909 points with the ball following his five for 65 and six for 90 against Australia in Perth in November-December 1985.
As such, Williamson’s 913 points is also the highest points tally to date for New Zealand and he is sandwiched between Ken Barrington (914 points) and Brian Lara (911 points) in 27th position in the all-time list of highest batting-wise ranking points.
While Williamson shone with the bat in Abu Dhabi and was richly rewarded, number-one ranked Virat Kohli managed only three and 34 in his side’s impressive 31-run victory over Australia at the picturesque Adelaide Oval.
As a result, Kohli has conceded 15 points to slip to 920 points, just seven points ahead of Williamson.
With Williamson breathing down Kohli’s neck, the India captain will be under pressure to perform strongly with the bat in the second Test starting in Perth from Friday otherwise he will potentially lose the number-one ranking he has been holding since the Edgbaston Test against England in August.
There was further good news for New Zealand, whose Henry Nicholls has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career. Nicholls scored 126 not out in the second innings and stitched up a 212-run fifth wicket partnership with Williamson as New Zealand set Pakistan a 280-run target after having conceded a 74-run first innings lead.
For this performance, Nicholls has jumped from 17th to ninth by rising eight places to become his side’s second batsman inside the top-10. BJ Watling has also made an upward movement and is now ranked 22nd after gaining four places.
Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, who scored centuries for Pakistan in the first innings, have made small gains. Azhar has moved up two places to 10th, while Asad is now 21st after rising one place.
And speaking of the centurions, how can one forget Cheteshwar Pujara, whose knocks of 123 and 71 were the cornerstone of India’s victory. Pujara has now moved ahead of Joe Root and David Warner in the fourth position. He trails third-ranked Smith by 55 points and leads Root by 39 points.
India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has achieved a career-high ranking of 33rd, after his three for 47 and three for 68 helped him to rise five places.
Nathan Lyon of Australia, who took eight wickets in the Test, has consolidated his 14th position while reducing the gap with 13th ranked Neil Wagner from 34 points to eight points.
The other two notable movers from the Adelaide Test are Ajinkya Rahane in 17th (up by two places) and Mitchell Starc in 16th (up by two places).
Amongst the newcomers, Australia’s Marcus Harris has entered in 116th batting position, while amongst the bowlers, off-spinner William Somerville of New Zealand has emerged in 63rd spot and Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has popped up in 111th place.
The MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of the Perth Test.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 11 December, following the conclusion of the Adelaide and Abu Dhabi Tests)
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 920 53.96 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
2 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 913! 51.56 913 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2018
3 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 901 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
4 (+2) C. Pujara Ind 846 50.48 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
5 (-1) Joe Root Eng 807 50.44 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
6 (-1) David Warner Aus 795 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
7 ( - ) D. Karunaratne SL 753 37.60 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( - ) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
9 (+8) Henry Nicholls NZ 709*! 39.20 709 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2018
10 (+2) Azhar Ali Pak 708 44.88 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
11 (-2) Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
12 (-1) D. Chandimal SL 695 44.28 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
13 (-3) Usman Khawaja Aus 677 42.94 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
14 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 ( - ) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
16 (-3) Ross Taylor NZ 658 46.08 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
17= (-1) Jonny Bairstow Eng 653 37.71 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
(+2) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 653 41.40 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
19 (-1) Jos Buttler Eng 635! 36.76 635 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2018
20 ( - ) Kusal Mendis SL 627 36.11 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
2 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 874 26.98 903 v Ind at Lord's 2018
3 (+1) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4 (-1) M. Abbas Pak 821* 16.62 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018
5 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 804 23.50 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
6 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 786 25.43 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
7 (-1) Pat Cummins Aus 770* 24.64 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
8 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 764 28.14 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
9 ( - ) Yasir Shah Pak 757 28.26 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
10 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 751* 28.50 766 v Ind at Hyderabad 2018
11 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 749 26.76 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
12 ( - ) Shannon Gabriel Win 742 29.73 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
13 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 733 28.49 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
14 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 725 32.05 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
15 (-1) Tim Southee NZ 706 30.70 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
16 (+2) Mitchell Starc Aus 699 28.31 805 v SA at Durban 2018
17 (-1) Mehidy Hasan Ban 696*! 29.78 696 v Win at Dhaka 2018
18 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 694 29.04 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
19 ( - ) Keshav Maharaj SA 692* 27.65 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
20 ( - ) Dilruwan Perera SL 689! 31.49 689 v Eng at Colombo (SSC) 2018
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 415 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 392 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 370 378 v SL at Galle 2018
4 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 365 /* 381 v Ind at Hyderabad 2018
5 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 342 396 v Win at Lord's 2017
*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 the career-highest rating
