Kagiso Rabada surpasses Ashwin, Herath in latest ICC Test rankings

South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada continued his ascent as one of the leading fast bowlers in the world, gaining two spots to reach a career-best third spot in the latest ICC Test rankings. The update was released after his Man of the Match performance against Bangladesh in the second Test of the two-match series at Bloemfontein.

With five wickets in each of the two innings, Rabada managed to overtake Sri Lankan veteran Rangana Herath, as well as Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, in the new rankings that also take into account the 2nd Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which the latter won by 63 runs.

Skipper Faf du Plessis, as well as Test newcomer Aiden Markram, both centurions in the 2nd Test, also made gains in the batting list: Du Plessis crawled up two places to reach 14th, while Markram jumped a massive 43 spots to reach 61.

The Sri Lankan players, after their win against Pakistan, also made gains in the rankings: Dimuth Karunaratne, who scored a 196 in the first innings, jumped by nine places to reach the 17th spot, while Niroshan Dickwella moved two places to reach 39.

For India, currently playing T20Is against Australia, the new rankings saw Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul effect a one-place gain: while Rahul moved to the eighth spot, Rahane follows him closely at nine.

Pakistan batsman Asad Shafiq, who scored a valiant ton that went in vain, moved seven places to 28th after his 11th Test ton, while skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, who stitched a rear-guard partnership with him, gained one spot to move to 32.

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Here are the full rankings:

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 936 59.66 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 889 53.76 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 876 52.65 888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

5 ( - ) David Warner Aus 807 47.94 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

6 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 806 49.55 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

7 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 795 49.87 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

8 (+1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 761*! 46.27 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

9 (+1) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 760 47.61 825 v NZ at Indore 2016

10 (-2) Azhar Ali Pak 755 46.62 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

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Bowlers (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) J. Anderson Eng 896! 27.39 896 v Win at Lord's 2017

2 ( - ) R.Jadeja Ind 884 23.60 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

3 (+2) K. Rabada SA 876! 22.71 876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

4 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 852 25.26 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

5 (-1) R. Herath SL 833 27.82 867 v Zim at Harare 2016

6 ( - ) J. Hazlewood Aus 794 25.75 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

7 (+1) Nathan Lyon Aus 752! 31.83 752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

8 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 748 22.30 909 v Win at Centurion 2014

9 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

10 (+1) Stuart Broad Eng 737 28.81 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

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All-rounders

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 438 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

2 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 430 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 422 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

4 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 396 /*! 396 v Win at Lord's 2017

5 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 378 409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017