Top-ranked Steve Smith reaches career-high rating after Pune Test

Australia captain Steve Smith has reached a career-high 939 rating points after an outstanding batting effort in the opening Test against India in Pune which his team won by 333 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.

Smith has not only consolidated his position at the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen but has also attained rating points which are the sixth-best ever after Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both 942) and Peter May (941). Gary Sobers, Viv Richards and Kumar Sangakkara all had career-high ranking points of 938.

Smith, who scored 27 and 109 in Pune to gain six points, now leads India captain Virat Kohli, who dropped 18 points after his poor performance in the first Test, by 66 points while England batsman Joe Root is 91 points behind him in third place with 848 points.

Australia batsman Matt Renshaw has moved up 18 places to a career-best 34th position scoring 68 and 31 while opener Lokesh Rahul has made an 11-slot gain to reach a career-best 46th position after scores of 64 and 10 for India, which folded for only 105 and 107 in the two innings in Pune to lose in three days.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia’s left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe has rocketed up 33 slots to a career-best 29th place after figures of 12 for 70 which earned him the player of the match award. O’ Keefe’s figures are the cheapest 12-wicket haul in Test cricket, beating ICC Hall of Famer George Lohmann’s 12 for 71 against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1896.

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin remains at the top of the bowlers’ rankings with 878 points after taking seven wickets but his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja now has company at second spot as Josh Hazlewood has caught up with him at 860 points, the Australia pace bowler’s career-best. India pace bowler Umesh Yadav’s six wickets in the match have seen him gain four slots to reach 30th rank.

Meanwhile, Australia pace bowler Mitchell Starc has moved up three slots in the list of all-rounders to fourth position after his fighting knocks of 61 and 30. Starc, who is ranked 10th among bowlers, has also moved up 27 places in the list of batsmen to a career-best 61st rank.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings – Batsmen

Rank	(+/-)	Player	Team	Points	Average	Highest rating
1	( - )	Steve Smith	AUS	939!	60.34	939 v Ind at Pune 2017
2	( - )	Virat Kohli	IND	873	50.72	895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
3	( - )	Joe Root	ENG	848	52.80	917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4	( - )	Kane Williamson	NZ	823	50.07	893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5	( - )	David Warner	AUS	805	48.70	880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6	( - )	Hashim Amla	SA	787	49.99	907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
7	( - )	Azhar Ali	PAK	779	47.07	787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
8	( - )	Younus Khan	PAK	772	53.06	880 v SL at Lahore 2009
9	( +1 )	Quinton de Kock	SA	760	51.04	769 v SL at Cape Town 2017
10	( +1 )	AB de Villiers	SA	755	50.46	935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings - Bowlers

Rank	(+/)	Player	Team	Points	Average	Highest Rating
1	(-)	R. Ashwin	IND	878	25.07	904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
2	(-)	R Jadeja	IND	860	24.25	879 v Eng at Chennai 2016
=2	(+1)	J. Hazlewood	AUS	860	24.72	860 v Ind at Pune 2017
4	(-)	R. Herath	SL	827	28.31	867 v Zim at Harare 2016
5	(-)	K. Rabada	SA	821	21.76	821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
6	(-)	Dale Steyn	SA	819	22.30	909 v WI at Centurion 2014
7	(-)	J. Anderson	ENG	810	28.50	884 v SL at Durham 2016
8	(-)	Stuart Broad	ENG	803	28.54	880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
9	(-)	V. Philander	SA	798	21.40	912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
10	(-)	Mitchell Starc	AUS	777	28.16	805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016