Kane Williamson gained 13 rating points for his century against Pakistan in Tauranga to go 11 points clear of Virat Kohli and 13 ahead of Steve Smith.
While stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane broke into the top 10 after winning five places in the latest ICC men’s test batting ranking released on Thursday, India captain Virat Kohli held on to his second spot.
After scoring 112 and 27, Rahane climbed to the sixth position not out to inspire India’s eight-wicket series-leveling victory in the second Test against Australia in Melbourne. It’s only one off his fifth career-best ranking in October last year.
Williamson, who was third in the previous update, moved two spots up, going past India captain Virat Kohli and Australia’s Steven Smith into first. Kohli, who missed the Boxing Day Test against Australia due to paternity leave, finished the year at No. 2 while Smith, who made scores of 8 and 0 in his last two innings, dropped to No. 3.
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Pat Cummins, among some of the bowlers, ended the year as the No. 1 Test bowler, just ahead of Stuart Broad of England at No. 2. Neil Wagner and Tim Southee’s New Zealand fast-bowling pair are at Nos. 3 and 4, while Mitchell Starc jumped two slots up to No. 5. R Ashwin has advanced two places to No. 7, and in the top ten, he is the only spinner.
https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1344525246284656640
With England’s Ben Stokes at No. 1, the list for Test all-rounders remained unchanged. Round U by Jason Holder, Ravindra Jadeja, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mitchell Starc round up the top five.
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MCG debutants Shubman Gill and Mohammad Siraj made noteworthy entries for batsmen and bowlers in the 76th and 77th places in the list, respectively. Gill scored 45 and 35 in the opening of the innings, though Siraj ended the match with five wickets.
Williamson last earned the No. 1 ranking in 2015 after which the top spot alternated between Kohli and Smith. Ajinkya Rahane, who hit a century in the second Test against Australia, moved up five spots to No. 6, while Marnus Labuschagne and Babar Azam held on to Nos. 4 and 5 respectively.
https://twitter.com/ICC/status/1344511246679347202
Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc’s four wickets in the match helped him reach a career best-equalling fifth position.
Matthew Wade’s scores of 30 and 40 as opener helped him reach 50th among batsmen from 55th, while Cameron Green gained 36 slots to reach 115th position. Whereas Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, too, was rewarded for his five-wicket haul at the MCG as he gained two places to the seventh spot, while pacer Jasprit Bumrah rose to the ninth position.
