Ravichandran Ashwin, who became the fastest Indian bowler to 400 Test wickets in the third Test against England, climbed four spots to break into the top three of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings for bowlers on Sunday. Ashwin picked up seven wickets in the Ahmedabad Test that saw him go to the third spot, two points adrift of second placed Neil Wagner.
India cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Rohit Sharma made significant gains in the ICC Test rankings thanks to their brilliant performances in the ongoing series against England.
Ashwin, who became the second fastest to claim 400 Test wickets in the day-night fixture, broke into the top three after jumping four places thanks to his remarkable consistency.
Ashwin’s spin-bowling partner and Player of the Match in the pink-ball Test Axar Patel also made solid gains. Left-arm spinner Patel’s 11-wicket match haul has helped him gain 30 slots to reach 38th position.
Opener Rohit Sharma touched his career-best eighth position with a six-place jump after his impressive sh in the low-scoring third Test in Ahmedabad. Rohit top-scored in the first innings with 66 and remained unbeaten on 25 in the second to move ahead of compatriot Cheteshwar Pujara among others. His rating points aggregate is 742, 20 more than his best of 722 in October 2019 when he was ranked 10th.
India’s opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who was the highest scorer in the Ahmedabad Test, attained a career-best ranking of 8th among batsmen.
Rohit is now the third Indian batsman along with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara in the top 10. Kane Williamson remains the top-ranked batsman in the longest format of the game while Australian pacer Pat Cummins is still the No.1-ranked Test bowler.
Axar Patel, playing just his second Test, picked up five-wicket hauls in both innings of the Ahmedabad Test — a match haul of 11 wickets — and he leapfrogged 30 spots to take 38th position in bowlers’ rankings.
James Anderson, who went wicketless in the third Test against India, lost three places and slipped to sixth place. Moreover, Jasprit Bumrah and Stuart Broad, who didn’t get to bowl much on a surface that assisted spinners, dropped one place each. The third Test between India and England was a low-scoring encounter that ended inside two days.
Day Two saw 17 wickets tumble with India winning the match by 10 wickets to take 2-1 series lead in the four-match series. The fourth and final Test will be played in Ahmedabad from March
