South Africa comeback men will eye rankings points verus Zimbabwe
- Former top-ranked bowler Dale Steyn returns to Test cricket and could get a chance to start his ascent back from the current 10th position
- AB de Villiers, Amla, Raza and Cremer will all be looking to make most of the opportunity
Pace bowler Dale Steyn leads a bunch of comeback men in the South Africa side who will be eyeing ranking points at stake in the four-day, day-night Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth from Tuesday.
Former top-ranked Steyn and batsman AB de Villiers (not ranked after an almost two-year sabbatical from Tests) are returning to Test cricket after long periods while pace bowlers Vernon Philander (11th) and Morne Morkel (13th) are coming back from injuries, leaving the team management with several choices and the possibility of resting some of these players for the one-off Test.
If Steyn gets to play, he will get a chance to climb back from 10th position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings. He was ranked second after his last Test, which was against Australia in Perth in November 2016, but has slipped to 748 points after missing matches due to a shoulder injury. Steyn, who has been ranked number one for 265 Tests, more than anyone in Test history, was last at the top in October 2016 when India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin overtook him.
Kagiso Rabada is the leading bowler in the match at second position while Hashim Amla (seventh), Dean Elgar (11th), Quinton de Kock (13th) and Faf du Plessis (14th) are the prominent batsmen for South Africa.
For Zimbabwe, Brendan Taylor (45th), Sikandar Raza (46th) and Craig Ervine (49th) will be looking to improve their positions among batsmen while captain Graeme Cremer will get a chance to move up from 47th place among bowlers.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, second-placed South Africa have the danger of losing three points with a defeat at the hands of Zimbabwe. Second on the points table led by India (124 points), South Africa will remain on 111 points even if they win the match while a draw will see them lose one point.
Zimbabwe, who are presently on two points, will slip to one point with a loss, a draw will see them move up to four points while a win will lift them to eight points.
The Test team rankings, unlike the ODI and T20I rankings, are updated after the end of the series and the Test predictor function is availablehere.
For more information on player rankings, please click here.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 24 December, before the one-off South Africa-Zimbabwe Test)
Rank Team Points
1 India 124
2 South Africa 111
3 England 105
4 New Zealand 100
5 Australia 97
6 Sri Lanka 94
7 Pakistan 88
8 Windies 72
9 Bangladesh 72
10 Zimbabwe 02
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings as of 24 December, before the one-off South Africa-Zimbabwe Test ):
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 Steve Smith Aus 945! 62.32 945 v Eng at Perth 2017
2 Virat Kohli Ind 893 53.75 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017
3 C. Pujara Ind 873 52.96 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
4 Kane Williamson NZ 855 50.62 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 Joe Root Eng 852 52.37 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
6 David Warner Aus 801 47.97 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
7 Hashim Amla SA 795 49.87 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
8 Azhar Ali Pak 755 46.62 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
9 D. Chandimal SL 743! 43.94 743 v Ind at Delhi 2017
10 Ross Taylor NZ 739 48.04 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
Other selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11 Dean Elgar SA 732 42.30 740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017
13 Quinton de Kock SA 724 44.40 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017
14 Faf du Plessis SA 718! 46.54 718 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017
45 Brendan Taylor Zim 550* 33.57 684 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
46 Sikandar Raza Zim 547*! 42.05 547 v Win at Bulawayo 2017
49 Craig Ervine Zim 508* 35.15 536 v SL at Colombo (RPS) 2017
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 James Anderson Eng 892 27.35 896 v Win at Lord's 2017
2 Kagiso Rabada SA 876! 22.71 876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017
3 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 870 23.73 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4 R. Ashwin Ind 829 25.44 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
5 Josh Hazlewood Aus 824 25.46 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
6 Rangana Herath SL 799 28.04 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
7 Neil Wagner NZ 784 27.87 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
8 Mitchell Starc Aus 782 27.52 805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016
9 Nathan Lyon Aus 773 31.55 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
10 Dale Steyn SA 748 22.30 909 v Win at Centurion 2014
Other selected rankings
Rank Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
11 Vernon Philander SA 736 22.45 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
****13 Morne Morkel SA 722 28.85 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
18 Keshav Maharaj SA 638* 26.33 644 v Ban at Potchefstroom 2017
47= Graeme Cremer Zim 353* 46.14 377 v Win at Bulawayo 2017
66= Sean Williams Zim 242* 40.33 244 v Win at Bulawayo 2017
All-rounders (top five)
Rank Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 438 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 Ravindra Jadeja Ind 415 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 Ben Stokes Eng 372/* 396 v Win at Lord's 2017
4 R. Ashwin Ind 369 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
5 Moeen Ali Eng 326 409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
! indicates career-highest rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.