ICC Ranking: Ravichandran Ashwin Moves to Within 2 Points of No 1 Rank, Ravindra Jadeja Storms into Top 10

England pacer James Anderson is the oldest bowler to top the Test rankings since Australia great Clarrie Grimmett in 1936 and the fifth oldest ever.

Source: Twitter

Team India bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja made big gains in the ICC Ranking for Test match bowlers. Ashwin jumped into No. 2 position, just a couple of points behind the new No. 1-ranked bowler James Anderson from England. Jadeja, the ‘Player-of-the-match’ in the second Test with seven wickets in the second innings against Australia, also stormed back into the top 10 of the bowlers’ ranking.

Anderson takes over from Australia captain Pat Cummins, who had been at the top since February 2019. Anderson first became No. 1 in May 2016 and was last at the top in November 2018 before being overtaken by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. Anderson is the oldest bowler to top the Test rankings since Australia great Clarrie Grimmett in 1936 and the fifth oldest ever.

Anderson now has 866 rating points while Ashwin is on 864 points currently. Australia captain Cummins slipped back to third with 858 points.

India all-rounder Jadeja has progressed seven places to ninth after his 10-wicket match haul in the second Test in Delhi, the first time that he is in the top 10 since September 2019. His spin partner Ashwin has moved to second place while other India spinner Axar Patel’s late-order heroics have pushed him into the top five for all-rounders as well.

_ We have a new World No.1 _

Pat Cummins is displaced atop the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Test Bowlers' Rankings _

Details _ — ICC (@ICC) February 22, 2023

Australia’s Nathan Lyon has gained two places to reach 15th after finishing with seven wickets in the match, which his team lost by six wickets.

England batters Ollie Pope (up six places to 23rd), Harry Brook (up 12 places to 31st) and Ben Duckett (up 13 places to 38th) have achieved career-best rankings, as have New Zealand’s Tom Blundell and Devon Conway. Blundell’s first innings knock of 138 has lifted him four places to 11th while Conway’s 77 has helped him move up five places to 17th.

There are some movements in the ODI rankings too after matches of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. Scotland’s George Munsey has gained seven spots to reach 39th position among batters while Nepal’s RK Paudel has progressed from 76th to 67th. In the bowling rankings, Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane is up 12 places to 31st while Scotland seam bowler Safyaan Sharif is up from 51st to 45th.

In the Men’s T20I Rankings, updated after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) versus Afghanistan series, Muhammad Waseem of the UAE is up six places to seventh position even as Sri Lanka spinner Wanindu Hasaranga is back to No. 1 with Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan slipping behind him.