Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul Thakur rise in ICC Test rankings; Ashwin maintains top spot among bowlers

India's comeback man Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday climbed to the 37th position while Shardul Thakur rose to 94th among batters, even as Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his top spot among Test bowlers despite not featuring in the World Test Championship final.

In a rare achievement, batters from Australia occupy the top three places in the rankings as Steve Smith and Travis Head joined top-ranked Marnus Labuschagne following their centuries in the WTC final win against India at The Oval.

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Despite India's 209-run loss in the marquee match, Rahane's scores of 89 and 46 helped him return to the rankings chart in 37th position while Shardul, who scored a half-century in the first innings, moved up six places.

Dashing wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, who is recovering following a car accident, remains the highest-ranked Indian at number 10 while skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are static on 12th and 13th spots respectively.

Veteran off-spinner Ashwin continued to be the top-ranked Test bowler, despite not being a part of the Indian playing XI, while fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja held on to his ninth spot.

However, the injured Jasprit Bumrah, who last played a Test match in July 2022, has dropped two spots to eighth.