Batsmen dominate latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings
Hashim Amla of South Africa has returned to the top three, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews has achieved a career-best ranking and Ian Bell of England has earned a place in the top 20 of the latest Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released on Friday morning.
Amla, who scored 139 not out and 25 in Colombo to inspire his side back to the number-one Test ranking, has earned 34 ratings points for his achievement, which has help him leapfrog Australia’s David Warner and Shivnarine Chanderpaul of the West Indies into third position.
He now trails second-ranked Kumar Sangakkara by 11 ratings points, while AB de Villiers is sitting on top of the tree on 899 ratings points.
Mathews led his side’s spirited fightback in the second Test when he scored 63 and 63 not out. This performance has given him a lift of four places to a career-high sixth position.
Mahela Jayawardene’s 165 was the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s 421 in the first innings and for this effort, the former Sri Lanka captain not only won the man of the match award but was also given a rise of four places that has put him in 14th spot.
At Rose Bowl, England’s colossal first innings total of 569 for seven declared revolved around Ian Bell’s 167, Gary Ballance’s 156, captain Alastair Cook’s 95 and debutant wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler’s 85. In the second innings, Cook contributed 70 not out, Ballance chipped in with 38 and Bell scored 23. As such, there were no surprises when the latest rankings reflected significant changes to their respective rankings.
Bell has gained five places to return to the top 20 in 19th position, Ballance has rocketed 16 places to a career-best 31st spot, Cook has moved up seven places to 22nd spot and Buttler has made an entry on the table in 63rd spot.
The only positive news for the India batsmen was the improvement in Ajinkya Rahane’s rankings. The middle-order batsman scored 54 and 52 not out to rise nine places to a career-best 26th position.
Sri Lanka spinners Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera lead the bowlers’ charge in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers while James Anderson and Moeen Ali of England have also headed in the right direction.
Herath had figures of four for 71 and five for 40 and these performances have given him a push of seven places to put him in eight position. Off-spinner Perera had match figures of eight for 129 and he was rewarded with a jump of 10 places that has put him in career-best 29th place.
Anderson, who collected the man of the match award for his five for 53 and two for 24, has moved up one place to seventh, while Moeen’s second innings figures of six for 67 that spun India out for 178 after being set a target of 445, has stormed 34 places to 38th position.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have also improved their rankings. After gaining three places, Jadeja is now in 25th spot while Kumar is now in 32nd position after rising two places.
South Africa’s Dale Steyn leads the bowlers’ rankings by a distance. The 31-year-old fast bowler took four wickets in the Colombo Test and though he has dropped three ratings points, he still leads his closest rival Ryan Harris of Australia by 33 ratings points.
There is no change in the top five of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test All-rounders with South Africa’s Vernon Philander leading Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh by one ratings point.
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings
Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 899 51.33 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
2 ( - ) K.Sangakkara SL 889 58.32 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
3 (+2) Hashim Amla SA 878 51.70 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
4 (-1) David Warner Aus 871! 46.54 871 v SA at Cape Town 2014
5 (-1) S.Chanderpaul WI 854 51.88 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
6 (+4) Angelo Mathews SL 827! 51.00 827 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2014
7 (-1) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 824! 48.75 824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
8 (-1) Michael Clarke Aus 818 51.50 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
9 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 795 46.43 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
10 (-2) C.Pujara Ind 771* 54.11 851 v SA at Durban 2013
11 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 759 51.38 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
12 ( - ) Steven Smith Aus 737*! 40.02 737 v SA at Cape Town 2014
13 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 728! 40.28 728 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
14 (+4) M.Jayawardene SL 704 50.09 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
15 (-1) Virat Kohli Ind 684 42.37 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014
16= ( - ) Chris Rogers Aus 675* 38.14 694 v Eng at Sydney 2014
(-1) Joe Root Eng 675* 45.63 688 v Ind at Lord's 2014
18 (-1) Faf du Plessis SA 657* 50.39 674 v SL at Galle 2014
19 (+5) Ian Bell Eng 655 45.16 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
20 ( - ) B.McCullum NZ 651 37.10 724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
Selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
22 (+7) Alastair Cook Eng 634 46.00 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
24 (-5) Murali Vijay Ind 628 38.79 652 v Eng at Lord's 2014
26 (+9) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 612*! 49.92 612 v Eng at The Rose Bowl 2014
31 (+16) Gary Ballance Eng 599*! 62.80 599 v Ind at The Rose Bowl 2014
34 (-3) MS Dhoni Ind 576 38.24 662 v SA at Kolkata 2010
38 (-7) JP Duminy SA 551 36.02 586 v SL at Galle 2014
43 (-5) Alviro Petersen SA 526 35.60 655 v NZ at Cape Town 2013
45 (-8) Rohit Sharma Ind 514* 48.90 578 v NZ at Wellington 2014
47 (+3) Kaushal Silva SL 502* 36.17 506 v Eng at Lord's 2014
53 (+1) Vernon Philander SA 449*! 27.79 449 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
54 (-1) Shikhar Dhawan Ind 438* 38.58 475 v NZ at Wellington 2014
63 (NEW) Jos Buttler Eng 404*! 85.00 404 v Ind at The Rose Bowl 2014
65 (-6) Dean Elgar SA 398* 30.26 425 v SL at Galle 2014
76 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 371 23.82 505 v Ind at The Oval 2011
77 (NEW) N.Dickwella SL 356*! 44.00 356 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2014
90 (-15) B.Kumar Ind 329* 32.40 373 v Eng at Lord's 2014
94 (-11) Moeen Ali Eng 324* 37.00 341 v Ind at Lord's 2014
96 (-1) Quinton de Kock SA 321*! 27.50 321 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
97 (-20) Upul Tharanga SL 319* 29.34 508 v Ban at Bogra 2006
98 (-2) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 317* 24.00 318 v Eng at Lord's 2014
102 (-4) Sam Robson Eng 294* 32.55 347 v Ind at Trent Bridge 2014
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Econ HS Rating
1 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 903 22.82 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( - ) Ryan Harris Aus 870! 22.56 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
3 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 844! 27.42 844 v SA at Cape Town 2014
4 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 813 21.09 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 787 27.46 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
6 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 783 29.83 799 v WI at Kingston 2014
7 (+1) James Anderson Eng 781 30.09 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
8 (+7) Rangana Herath SL 755 30.41 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
9 (-2) Trent Boult NZ 737* 27.45 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
10= (-1) Kemar Roach WI 733! 27.04 733 v NZ at Bridgetown 2014
(-1) Peter Siddle Aus 733 29.37 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
Selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Econ HS Rating
13 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 715 30.66 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
16 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 700 30.08 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
25= (+3) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 516* 30.25 570 v SA at Durban 2013
( - ) Shaminda Eranga SL 516* 32.42 541 v Eng at Headingley 2014
29 (+10) Dilruwan Perera SL 480*! 28.48 480 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2014
32 (+2) B.Kumar Ind 423*! 28.58 423 v Eng at The Rose Bowl 2014
35 (-4) Ajantha Mendis SL 402* 34.77 572 v Ban at Chittagong 2009
38 (+34) Moeen Ali Eng 371*! 32.11 371 v Ind at The Rose Bowl 2014
39 (-4) M.Shami Ind 368* 36.31 422 v NZ at Wellington 2014
49 (+1) JP Duminy SA 327*! 38.15 327 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
54 (-1) Imran Tahir SA 285* 47.17 312 v Pak at Dubai 2013
81 (-1) Angelo Mathews SL 147* 59.36 151 v SA at Galle 2014
100 (+9) Joe Root Eng 44* 56.25 113 v Aus at Lord's 2013
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 365*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
2 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 364 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
3 ( - ) R.Ashwin Ind 351*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
4 ( - ) Mitchell Johnson Aus 280 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009
5 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 265 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after a minimum of 40 started innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has conceded 1,500 runs.
!indicates career-highest rating