Jasprit Bumrah becomes first Indian pacer to reach top spot in ICC Test rankings

Jasprit Bumrah, who was named Player of the Match after helping India level the five-match series with a 106-run victory, ended Ashwin's 11-month long reign.

Dubai: Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday became the first Indian pacer to reach the top spot in the the ICC Test rankings.

The previous best ranking achieved by an Indian fast bowler was No. 2 in 1979 by Kapil Dev. Another Indian pace legend, Zaheer Khan, also occupied the No. 3 spot in 2010.

The 30-year-old's stellar performance against England in Visakhapatnam has helped him leapfrog Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and Ravichandran Ashwin, making him only the fourth from India to attain the number one position in the ICC Test Rankings. Before this, his highest ranking had been No. 3 in the Test rankings.

Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bishan Singh Bedi are the other Indians who have been at the top of the charts.

Bumrah, who was named Player of the Match after helping India level the five-match series with a 106-run victory, ended Ashwin's 11-month long reign. Ashwin, on 499 Test wickets, is now third in the standings.

Bumrah now has 881 rating points with Ashwin (904) and Jadeja (899) the only India bowlers to have aggregated more rating points. Ashwin and Jadeja also have the unique distinction of being jointly top-ranked in March 2017.

Yashasvi Jasiwal, Shubman Gill claim career-best rankings

The batting rankings see left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal progress 37 places to 29th after completing a fine double-century in the first innings and Shubman Gill go up 14 places to a career-best 38th after notching a century in the second innings.

England opener Zak Crawley is another player to gain after the Visakhapatnam Test, moving up eight places to a career-best 22nd position after scores of 76 and 73.

Rookie leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed has moved up 14 places to 70th while Tom Hartley, who became just the second England player with at least 50 runs and five wickets in each of his first two Tests, has advanced in both lists - up from 103rd to 95th in the batting rankings and from 63rd to 53rd in the bowling rankings.

The latest rankings have also factored in performances in the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Colombo. Left-arm spinner Prabhath Jayasuriya has moved up to three places to a career-best sixth position after his eight-wicket match haul helped the home side win by 10 wickets.

In the ODI rankings, Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa is up one place to third and fast bowler Sean Abbott’s six wickets in the three-match series against the West Indies this past week have lifted him 35 places to joint-33rd position.