India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has lost his number-one rank after being overtaken by South speedster Kagiso Rabada in the latest ICC Men's Test Bowlers Rankings. Rabada’s rise follows his impressive form in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle, particularly highlighted by his nine-wicket haul in South Africa’s recent victory over Bangladesh in Mirpur, which also marked his 300th Test wicket.
Rabada’s strong performance led the Proteas to a seven-wicket win, helping him leap past Bumrah, as well as Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, to claim the No.1 ranking for the first time since early 2019. Rabada first ascended to the top in January 2018 and has remained a consistent presence in the top 10 ever since, only relinquishing his position in February 2019. Hazlewood now occupies the second spot, while Bumrah and Ashwin drop to third and fourth, respectively.
Bumrah recently regained the top spot after his stellar show in the Bangladesh series where he scalped 11 wickets along with Ashwin. However, the duo failed to replicate their good show in the ongoing series against New Zealand scalping just three and six wickets respectively averaging well above 40.
Elsewhere in the rankings, Pakistan’s Noman Ali made significant strides with a career-high entry into the top 10, following his standout performance in Rawalpindi against England. His nine-wicket performance lifted him eight places to ninth. Fellow Pakistan spinner Sajid Khan also reached a career-best rating, moving up 12 spots to 38th after a 10-wicket showing. New Zealand left-armer Mitchell Santner surged 30 places to a new career-best of 44th overall after his 13-wicket haul in Pune against India.
Among batters, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has returned to the third spot after his quick-fire innings of 77 (65) in the second Test against New Zealand. Pakistan’s rising star Saud Shakeel climbed 20 spots to be at number seven while New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra also climbed eight places to be at number 10 as the duo entered top ten for the first time in their careers.
England’s Joe Root retains his lead at the top of the batting rankings despite a challenging third Test against Pakistan. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz has moved two places to be at the third spot in the All Rounders rankings.
Source: India Today