Ravichandran Ashwin’s reign as the world’s highest-ranked Test bowler is over as his teammate Jasprit Bumrah replaced him at the top in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after his brilliant spell in the just-concluded Kanpur Test against Bangladesh. Bumrah produced a match-winning spell with six wickets in a cracking display.
Ashwin, who was also the player of the series for his invaluable returns with bat and ball, is now second among Test bowlers, separated from first by just one point – Ashwin 869, Bumrah 870. Bangladesh offspinner Mehidy Hasan Miraj leaped four places to 18th while experienced allrounder Shakib Al Hasan slipped five to 28th.
Josh Hazlewood of Australia retained the third position, with Test captain Pat Cummins just a step behind in the fourth position. Kagiso Rabada of South Africa is also in fourth position, while Ravindra Jadeja of India remained static at sixth, eight points ahead of Australia’s Nathan Lyon.
Prabath Jayasuriya, the all-important Sri Lankan spinner, who had played a key role in his team’s just-concluded 2-0 clean sweep against New Zealand, has gained one place to attain a career-best ranking of seventh.
Bumrah and Ashwin ended the Test series against Bangladesh with 11 wickets each. Still, Ashwin took home the player-of-the-series award since his incredible batting effort in the first Test in Chennai, where he played a saving century, proved to be the difference. This is Ashwin’s 11th player-of-the-series award, which draws him level with the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan.
The Indian Test team will get some time off before engaging in battle, this time with New Zealand, on October 16.
