Dubai. South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada became the top bowler in the ICC (International Cricket Council) men’s Test player rankings released on Wednesday, overtaking Indian fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Right-arm bowler Rabada, who has been in great form during the ongoing World Test Championship, recently completed his 300 wickets in this format by taking nine wickets in the first Test against Bangladesh in Mirpur. South Africa won this match played in Mirpur by seven wickets. Bumrah had failed to take a single wicket in India’s second Test match against New Zealand played in Pune. He has slipped two places to third place. Josh Hazlewood of Australia is in second place.
India’s experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has also slipped to fourth position with a loss of two places. Australian captain Pat Cummins is also included in the top five bowlers. Pakistan’s spinner Noman Ali, who bowled brilliantly in the third and final Test against England in Rawalpindi recently, is a new member in the top 10.
Mitchell Santner, who emerged as New Zealand’s hero during the historic series win over India, improved his ranking by 30 places. This left arm spinner, who took 13 wickets in the Pune Test, has reached 44th position in the rankings. In the batsmen’s list, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal moved up one place to third place after contributions of 30 and 77 runs against New Zealand in Pune. He remains India’s top ranked batsman in this format. The batting rankings of explosive wicketkeeper-batsmen Rishabh Pant and Virat Kohli have declined. While Pant has dropped five places to 11th position, Kohli has slipped six places to 14th position.
New Zealand’s Devon Conway (up eight places to 28th), Tom Latham (up six places to 34th) and Glenn Phillips (up 16 places to 45th) and South Africa’s Kyle Verreynne (up 14 places to 32nd) have made significant gains in the rankings. India’s Ravindra Jadeja (number one) and Ashwin (number two) are maintaining a good lead at the top of the rankings for Test all-rounders. Bangladesh star Mehdi Hasan has gained two places to reach third place. He had performed brilliantly with bat and ball against South Africa.