India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has broken into the top 20 for the first time in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers that were released on Tuesday, following the conclusion of the Bengaluru Test on Monday with India’s five wickets victory.
 
The 25-year-old from Chennai, who took five for 69 in New Zealand’s second innings, has jumped seven places to a career-best 18th position. The off-spinner finished the series with 18 wickets, and gained 26 places on the bowlers’ table through the course of the series, as India defeated New Zealand 2-0 in the two-Test series.
 
Ashwin, who was named player of the series, also achieved a career-high rating of 591.
 
Ashwin’s team-mate, Pragyan Ojha, ended with a match haul of seven for 148 and has moved up a place to 14th spot, which is his career-best ranking. Ojha's overall rating of 675 is also his best-ever rating.
 
For New Zealand, fast bowler Tim Southee, who returned career-best figures of seven for 64 in India’s first innings, has jumped 10 places to 40th. His overall rating of 432 is also his career-best to date.
 
India pace bowlers Zaheer Khan (15th) and Umesh Yadav (48th) have slipped a place each, while New Zealand bowlers who have dropped in the latest rankings are Doug Bracewell in 30th (down by one), James Franklin in 49th (down by five) and Trent Boult in 69th (down by six).
 
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers is still headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn, with teammate Vernon Philander and Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan in second and third positions, respectively.
 
The two centurions in the Bengaluru Test, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor and India's Virat Kohli, have made upward movements in the batting chart.
 
Kohli, who scored 103 and 51 not out, has vaulted 12 places to achieve a career-best ranking of 35. His overall rating of 580 is also a career-best for Kohli.
 
Taylor, who made 113 and 35, has moved up six places to 12th.
 
The other batsmen to make upward movements are Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 36th (up by two), Daniel Flynn in 68th (up by nine), Kruger van Wyk in 75th (up by 23) and James Franklin in 88th  (up by three).
 
Batsmen losing ground after the Bengaluru Test include Sachin Tendulkar in 16th (down by five), Virender Sehwag in 23rd (down by one), Brendon McCullum in 28th (down by four), Martin Guptill in 37th (down by two), Gautam Gambhir in 38th (down by two), Kane Williamson in 43rd (down by six) and Cheteshwar Pujara in 58th (down by two).
 
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakarra remains the top-ranked batsman, followed by South Africa’s Hashim Amla and West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul in second and third positions, respectively.
 
The Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders is still headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan with South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in second spot.
 
Meanwhile, the 2-0 series win has fetched India two ratings points in the Reliance ICC Test Championship, lifting it to 106 ratings points, just three behind fourth-ranked Pakistan, while New Zealand has slipped to 76 ratings points (down from 80).
 
Reliance ICC Test Championship (after the India-New Zealand series)
Rank    Team               Rating
1          South Africa    120
2          England           117
3          Australia          116
4          Pakistan           109
5          India                106
6          Sri Lanka           98
7          West Indies        90
8          New Zealand     76
9          Bangladesh          0
 
(Developed by David Kendix)
 
Reliance ICC Test Rankings (after the India-New Zealand series)
 
Batsmen
 
Rank     (+/-)          Player                 Team       Pts      Ave           HS Rating
   1           ( - )          K Sangakkara      SL           892    56.73          938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
   2           ( - )          Hashim Amla       SA           869    49.95          872 v Eng at The Oval 2012
   3           ( - )          S.Chanderpaul     WI          829    50.20          901 v NZ at Napier 2008
   4           ( - )          Jacques Kallis       SA           822    56.94          935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
   5           ( - )          AB de Villiers        SA           806    48.85          821 v Eng at The Oval 2012
   6           ( - )          Michael Clarke    Aus         771    48.77          855 v Eng at Headingley 2009
   7           ( - )          Graeme Smith      SA           767    49.78          843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
   8           ( - )          Younus Khan       Pak         761    51.69          880 v SL at Lahore 2009
   9           ( - )          Azhar Ali               Pak         753!   45.27         753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
  10         ( - )          Kevin Pietersen    Eng         746    49.48          909 v WI at Headingley 2007
  11         (+1)         Alastair Cook       Eng         731    47.84          836 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
  12         (+6)         Ross Taylor          NZ          727    42.60          775 v Pak at Wellington 2009
  13=       ( - )          Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak         720    45.68          771 v Eng at Abu Dhabi 2012
                ( - )          T Samaraweera   SL           720    51.29          775 v SA at Cape Town 2012
  15         ( - )          Jonathan Trott     Eng         719    50.49          856 v SL at Cardiff 2011
  16         (-5)          S Tendulkar          Ind          714    55.08          898 v Zim at Nagpur 2002
  17         (-1)          Mike Hussey        Aus         705    50.07          921 v WI at Kingston 2008
  18         (-1)          Ian Bell                  Eng         704    46.83          822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
  19         (-1)          M Jayawardena   SL           693    50.43          883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
  20         ( - )          Ricky Ponting       Aus         691    52.75          942 v Eng at Adelaide 2006
 
Selected Rankings
 
Rank     (+/-)         Player                   Team      Pts       Ave       HS Rating
  23         (-1)          V Sehwag              Ind          641     50.64     866 v SL at Galle 2010
  28         (-4)          B McCullum         NZ          615      35.83    673 v Pak at Hamilton 2011
  35         (+12)      Virat Kohli             Ind          580*!   41.35    580 v NZ at Bengaluru 2012
  36         (+2)         Mahendra Dhoni Ind          567      38.45     662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
  37         (-2)          Martin Guptill       NZ          566       33.85    597 v WI at Kingston 2012
  38         (-2)          G Gambhir            Ind          552        44.35      886 v SL at Kanpur 2009
  43         (-6)          Kane Williamson NZ          525*      31.57     571 v SA at Wellington 2012
  58         (-2)          C Pujara                Ind          423*      40.37     432 v NZ at Hyderabad 2012
  68         (+9)          Daniel Flynn         NZ          368*      27.81     432 v Ind at Hamilton 2009
  72         (+4)         R Ashwin               Ind           362*!    39.22     362 v NZ at Bengaluru 2012
  75=       (+23)      Kruger van Wyk   NZ          349*!    23.07     349 v Ind at Bengaluru 2012
  78         ( - )          Suresh Raina        Ind          346*      28.44     482 v Eng at Lord's 2011
  88         (+3)         James Franklin     NZ          293         22.28     314 v SL at Wellington 2006
119         (+18)      Doug Bracewell    NZ          193*!    12.50     193 v Ind at Bengaluru 2012
 
Bowlers
 
Rank     (+/-)          Player                 Team        Pts          Ave       HS Rating
   1           ( - )          Dale Steyn            SA           881         23.50     902 v SL at Centurion 2011
   2           ( - )          V Philander           SA           852*!    15.96     852 v Eng at Lord's 2012
   3           ( - )          Saeed Ajmal         Pak         832         27.09     836 v SL at Galle 2012
   4           ( - )          Rangana Herath  SL           782 !      31.72     782 v Pak at Pallekele 2012
   5           ( - )          James Anderson  Eng         761         30.39     813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
   6           ( - )          Ben Hilfenhaus    Aus         756*      28.03     757 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2012
   7           ( - )          Peter Siddle           Aus         740         29.27     768 v Ind at Adelaide 2012
   8           ( - )          Stuart Broad         Eng         727         31.02     783 v WI at Lord's 2012
   9           ( - )          Morne Morkel      SA           724         30.36     776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
  10          ( - )          Kemar Roach       WI          712*!    27.69     712 v NZ at Kingston 2012
  11          ( - )          Abdur Rehman    Pak         704*      28.40     739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
  12          ( - )          Graeme Swann    Eng         683         29.58     858 v Pak at Lord's 2010
  13          ( - )          Shakib Al Hasan Ban        678*      31.33     680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
  14          (+1)         Pragyan Ojha       Ind          675*!    31.82     675 v NZ at Bengaluru 2012
  15          (-1)          Zaheer Khan        Ind          661         32.06     752 v SA at Durban 2010
  16          (+1)         Steven Finn           Eng         621*!    28.15     621 v SA at Lord's 2012
  17          (-1)          Chris Martin         NZ          616         33.97     669 v SA at Hamilton 2012
  18          (+7)         R Ashwin               Ind          591*!    26.63     591 v NZ at Bengaluru 2012
  19          (-1)          Ryan Harris          Aus         587*      23.63     614 v WI at Bridgetown 2012
  20          (-1)          Umar Gul              Pak         584         33.66     642 v Eng at Dubai 2012
 
Selected Rankings
 
Rank     (+/-)          Player                 Team        Pts          Ave        HS Rating
30          (-1)          Doug Bracewell    NZ          483*      28.02     538 v WI at Kingston 2012
40          (+10)      Tim Southee         NZ          432*!    39.84     432 v Ind at Bengaluru 2012
48          (-1)          Umesh Yadav      Ind          339*      34.14     385 v Aus at Melbourne 2011
49=        (-5)          James Franklin     NZ          337*      33.81     679 v SL at Christchurch 2006
               (+3)         Jeetan Patel           NZ          337*      46.42     368 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2009
 69         (-6)          Trent Boult            NZ          232*      36.52     263 v Ind at Hyderabad 2012
 
All-rounders
Rank    (+/-)          Player                  Team        Pts          HS Rating
   1           ( - )          S Al Hasan            Ban        404/*!   404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
   2           ( - )          Jacques Kallis       SA           390        616 v Pak at Durban 2002
   3           ( - )          Shane Watson      Aus         334/*    394 v SA at Johannesburg 2011
   4           ( - )          Stuart Broad         Eng         318        382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
   5           ( - )          Daniel Vettori        NZ          308        412 v Pak at Napier 2009
 
Selected Rankings
  Rank    (+/-)        Player          Team      Pts              HS Rating
    9           (+3)        R Ashwin      Ind          214 */*!    214 v NZ at Bengaluru 2012


By Indian Sports News Network