London: India’s 95 runs win against England at Lord’s on Monday, only its second at the home of cricket in 82 years, has seen its young players make noticeable improvements on the Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings. India leads the five-Test series with the third Test to start in Southampton on 27 July.
Players to make an upward movement following the historic win include man of the match Ishant Sharma, fellow fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, opener Murali Vijay and middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Ishant Sharma, has returned to the top 20 for the first time in nearly three years. Following his match figures of seven for 135, including seven for 74 in the second innings. The towering Delhi bowler has jumped three places to 20th position. Sharma was last in 20th position following the third Test against the West Indies in Mumbai.
Sharma now trails off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (11th), the highest-ranked India bowler, by 139 ratings points.
The 24-year-old Kumar, in his maiden Test at Lord’s, returned match figures of 47-17-103-6, including six for 82 in the first innings. He has vaulted 12 places to claim 34th position with team-mate Ravindra Jadeja in 28th position firmly within his sights.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Vijay has rocketed 11 places to claim 19th position following his contributions of 24 and 95. This is his career-best ranking to date. Vijay is the third India batsman behind Cheteshwar Pujara (eighth) and Virat Kohli (14th) to feature inside the top 20.
Rahane, who scored a masterly 103 in the first innings, has gained 11 places on the table and is now sitting in 35th position.
Despite ending up on the losing side, there is some positive news from the England camp with James Anderson and some of its young guns continuing to make upward movement.
Anderson, who returned figures of four for 60 and one for 77, has leaped five places to return to the top 10 in eighth position, while Ben Stokes, who took five for 91, has claimed 11 places to rise to 41st position. Liam Plunkett is also on the move following his four wickets and he is now in 45th position after earning five places.
Amongst England batsmen to head in the right direction, Joe Root has gained one more place and is now in 15th position following scores of 13 and 66, while Gary Ballance has stormed inside the top 50 by rising 23 places to claim 47th spot. Moeen Ali has earned 16 places and is now in 83rd position.
Sri Lanka v South Africa
Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy have achieved career-best rankings after inspiring their side to 153 runs victory over Sri Lanka in Galle.
Du Plessis scored 80 and 37 for which he has been rewarded with a jump of four places that has put him in 17th position. Duminy’s fourth career century has given him a lift of 13 places and has put him in 31st position.
However, South Africa captain Hashim Amla has lost his second position and has fallen three places to fifth. A strong performance in the Colombo Test will potentially help him return into the top three.
Amongst the fast bowlers, Dale Styen’s nine wickets in the match has earned him eight ratings points which has helped him once again break the 900-point barrier. He is now on 906 ratings points, just two ratings points short of his career-best rating, which he had achieved against Pakistan last year in Johannesburg.
Sri Lanka’s Dilruwan Perera was the other impressive bowler in the first Test. The 32-year-old, who has represented Sri Lanka in the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, has jumped 15 places to 39th position. He took eight wickets in the match for 241 runs.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s victory in Galle has left it on the verge reclaiming the number-one position on the Reliance ICC Test Team Table. South Africa now needs to draw the Colombo Test to move ahead of Australia by a fraction of a point.
However, if Sri Lanka bounces back with a victory, then South Africa will slip to 120 Ratings Points – three behind Australia – while Sri Lanka with move to 99 ratings points.
The Test Championship table will be updated at the conclusion of the series on 28 July.
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 22 July, after the conclusion of the Galle Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa and the Lord’s Test between England and India)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Highest Ranking
1 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 913 51.71 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
2 ( - ) K Sangakkara SL 895 58.55 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (+1) David Warner Aus 871! 46.54 871 v SA at Cape Town 2014
4 (+1) S.Chanderpaul WI 854 51.88 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
5 (-2) Hashim Amla SA 844 50.78 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
6 ( - ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 824! 48.75 824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
7 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 818 51.50 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
8 ( - ) C Pujara Ind 811* 56.68 851 v SA at Durban 2013
9 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 795 46.43 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
10 ( - ) Angelo Mathews SL 794! 49.63 794 v SA at Galle 2014
11 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 759 51.38 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
12 ( - ) Steven Smith Aus 737*! 40.02 737 v SA at Cape Town 2014
13 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 728! 40.28 728 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
14 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 699 42.80 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
15 (+1) Joe Root Eng 688*! 46.67 688 v Ind at Lord's 2014
16 (+1) Chris Rogers Aus 675* 38.14 694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
17 (+4) Faf du Plessis SA 674*! 53.00 674 v SL at Galle 2014
18 (-3) M Jayawardene SL 665 49.80 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
19 (+11) Murali Vijay Ind 652! 39.53 652 v Eng at Lord's 2014
20 (-1) B McCullum NZ 651 37.10 724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave Highest Ranking
24 (-4) Ian Bell Eng 622 44.52 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
29 (-4) Alastair Cook Eng 601 45.34 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
31 (-4) MS Dhoni Ind 586 38.42 662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
31 (+13) JP Duminy SA 586! 38.09 586 v SL at Galle 2014
35 (+11) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 570*! 45.25 570 v Eng at Lord's 2014
40 (-5) Matt Prior Eng 554 40.18 745 v NZ at Auckland 2013
47 (+23) Gary Ballance Eng 498*! 54.25 498 v Ind at Lord's 2014
75 (+32) B Kumar Ind 373*! 38.12 373 v Eng at Lord's 2014
78 (-16) Ben Stokes Eng 351* 25.36 441 v Aus at Sydney 2014
83 (+16) Moeen Ali Eng 341*! 41.16 341 v Ind at Lord's 2014
95 (+24) Quinton de Kock SA 319*! 32.00 319 v SL at Galle 2014
96 (+14) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 318*! 24.15 318 v Eng at Lord's 2014
98 (-20) Sam Robson Eng 304* 36.28 347 v Ind at Trent Bridge 2014
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 906 22.72 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( - ) Ryan Harris Aus 870! 22.56 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
3 (+1) Mitchell Johnson Aus 844! 27.42 844 v SA at Cape Town 2014
4 (-1) Vernon Philander SA 837 20.69 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 787 27.46 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
6 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 783 29.83 799 v WI at Kingston 2014
7 (+1) Trent Boult NZ 737* 27.45 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
8 (+5) James Anderson Eng 735 30.45 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
9= (+2) Kemar Roach WI 733! 27.04 733 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
(+2) Peter Siddle Aus 733 29.37 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
11 (-3) RAshwin Ind 729 28.50 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
12 (+2) Pragyan Ojha Ind 712 30.26 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
13 (-3) Stuart Broad Eng 709 30.68 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
14 (+1) Abdur Rehman Pak 705* 27.75 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
15 (-8) Rangana Herath SL 704 31.13 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
16 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 687 30.27 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
17 ( - ) Junaid Khan Pak 623*! 29.07 623 v SL at Sharjah 2014
18 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 613 33.36 680 v WI at Mirpur 2011
19 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 607 32.99 648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013
20 (+3) Ishant Sharma Ind 590 37.04 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
28 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 482* 28.87 570 v SA at Durban 2013
34 (+12) B Kumar Ind 409*! 26.30 409 v Eng at Lord's 2014
39 (+15) Dilruwan Perera SL 364*! 33.68 364 v SA at Galle 2014
41 (+11) Ben Stokes Eng 352*! 32.90 352 v Ind at Lord's 2014
44 (+1) Suranga Lakmal SL 338*! 48.45 338 v SA at Galle 2014
45 (+5) Liam Plunkett Eng 335*! 37.46 335 v Ind at Lord's 2014
50 ( - ) JP Duminy SA 316*! 37.96 316 v SL at Galle 2014
53 (-4) Imran Tahir SA 283* 45.67 312 v Pak at Dubai 2013
72 (+14) Moeen Ali Eng 208*! 44.90 208 v Ind at Lord's 2014
95 ( - ) Wayne Parnell SA 74* 36.85 172 v Ind at Nagpur 2010
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
1 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 366*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
2 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 364 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 (-1) Ravichandran Ashwin Ind 358*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 (+1) Mitchell Johnson Aus 280 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 263 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points HS Rating
10 (+3) JP Duminy SA 185/*! 185 v SL at Galle 2014
13= (+9) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 153*/*!153 v Eng at Lord's 2014
(+27) Bhuvneshwar Kumar Ind 153*/*!153 v Eng at Lord's 2014
23 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 124*/* 137 v Aus at Sydney 2014
26 (+4) Morne Morkel SA 115 165 v Eng at Lord's 2012
43 (+18) Moeen Ali Eng 71*/*! 71 v Ind at Lord's 2014
51 (+29) Liam Plunkett Eng 53*/*! 53 v Ind at Lord's 2014
