Australian pacer Pat Cummins replaced South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada at the top of the International Cricket Council Test bowlers’ rankings.
The big mover of the latest update was, not surprisingly, Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Perera. On the back of his colossal effort – a 200-ball 153* – that guided the visitors to a thrilling one-wicket victory against South Africa in Durban on Saturday, he climbed a massive 58 spots in the rankings for batsmen after
The epic knock helped Sri Lanka take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, and Perera is now 40th in the rankings, with a career-high rating of 556.
Cummins, meanwhile, became the first Aussie bowler since the legendary Glenn McGrath to hold the top spot. McGrath was ranked No 1, 13 years ago.
Cummins picked up 14 wickets at an average of 7.78 and strike-rate of 22.1 in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka. Against India, in a four-Test series, he was Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets and impressed as an all-rounder as well.
He also won the Allan Border medal, last week, after being named the Australian player of the year.
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ICC Test rankings top-5
| BATSMEN | BOWLERS | ALL-ROUNDERS |
|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli (922 points) | Pat Cummins (878 points) | Jason Holder (439 points) |
| Kane Williamson (897) | James Anderson (862) | Shakib Al Hasan (415) |
| Cheteshwar Pujara (881) | Kagiso Rabada (849) | Ravindra Jadeja (387) |
| Steve Smith (857) | Vernon Philander (821) | Ben Stokes (357) |
| Henry Nicholls (763) | Ravindra Jadeja (794) | Vernon Philander (332) |
After the shock loss to Sri Lanka in Durban, Rabada dropped to third in the bowlers’ list. England’s James Anderson rose to second.
Rabada registered match figures of 3-145 in the first Test – quite mediocre by his own standard.
Meanwhile, the top-five in the Test batting ranking remained unchanged. Indian captain Virat Kohli continued to remain atop while his New Zealand counterpart, Kane Williamson, was second.
Cheteshwar Pujara, after his good show in the Australia series, is at the third spot.
Hashim Amla, who scored just 3 and 16 in Durban, slipped out of the top 10 and is currently at No.13 while Kusal Mendis, with 12 and 0, descended five spots to 29.
There were no changes in the top 20 of the all-rounder rankings. Jason Holder retained the top spot with 439 points