Pandya makes a giant leap as Dhawan, Rahul reach career-best ICC rankings

After the comprehensive 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka at home, Indian players made strong strides up the International Cricket Council rankings, with openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul moving up to career-best positions.

The duo were among the runs throughout the series and built an important partnership of 188 in under 40 overs to power the innings and 171 run-win in the third Test.

Dhawan, who top-scored with 119 in in the final Test in Pallekele, moved up 10 places to 28th. The left hander scored three second centuries in three Tests amassing 358 runs to be adjudged player of the series. Rahul climbed two places to equal his career-best ninth position after scoring 85 in the opening stand, according to a release by the ICC.

However, Ravindra Jadeja lost the top spot among all-rounders to Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hassan after missing the Pallekele Test due to a one-match suspension. He slipped one point behind Shakib’s tally of 431 points but remains at the top of the bowling rankings.

The other Indian to gain big was Hardik Pandya, whose scintillating 96-ball knock of 108 saw him gain 45 positions to reach a career-best 68th rank among batsmen. Pacers Mohammad Shami (up one place to 19th position) and Umesh Yadav (up one place up to a career-best 21st position) also climbed up the rankings.

India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Sri Lanka’s Lakshan Sandakan also made it higher on the table. Yadav, coming in for Ravindra Jadeja, has moved up 29 slots to 58th place after returning figures of four for 40 and one for 56, while Sandakan’s haul of five for 132 has helped him gain 16 places to reach 57th position, according to the ICC release.

Other Sri Lanka players to move up in the rankings include batsmen Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella. Chandimal has gained two slots to reach 33rd position while Dickwella has gained seven slots to reach a career-best 61st position.

In the team rankings, top-ranked India and seventh-placed Sri Lanka maintained their positions, with Virat Kohli’s side gaining two points to reach 125 points, increasing the lead over South Africa by 15 points.

Meanwhile, England hosts the West Indies for a three-Test series starting Thursday, which it may have to win in order to remain in third position, depending on the results of a two-Test series between Bangladesh and Australia that starts later this month.