ICC Test rankings: Dimuth Karunaratne, Akila Dananjaya and Keshav Maharaj on the move

Dimuth Karunaratne has become Sri Lanka’s highest-ranked Test batsman, while Keshav Maharaj has returned to the top-20 in the latest MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released on Tuesday morning following the conclusion of the Colombo Test.

Karunaratne scored 53 and 85, and also benefitted from Dinesh Chandimal’s absence as well as below-par performances from Dean Elgar and Aiden Markram to move up three places to a career-best seventh position. Karunaratne now leads Chandimal by 21 points, while he is ahead of ninth-ranked Elgar and tenth-ranked Markram by 30 and 51 points, respectively.

Karunaratne’s opening partner Danushka Gunathilaka, who also scored two half-centuries and was involved in opening partnerships of 116 and 91, has made an impressive gain of 36 places and now occupies the 73rd position.

Theunis de Bruyn and Keshav Maharaj move up as well

The biggest mover in the latest rankings is South Africa’s middle-order batsman Theunis de Bruyn. Although de Bruyn’s 101 failed to save his side from a 199-run defeat, his maiden Test century in his sixth Test has lifted the 25-year-old from 148th to 105th (up by 43 places).

The batting table is headed by Australia’s Steve Smith, although second-ranked Virat Kohli will be eyeing the number-one spot when he leads India in the five-Test series starting at Edgbaston next week. Kohli is presently 26 points behind Smith but leads his third-ranked opposite number Joe Root by 48 points.

Maharaj has been rewarded with a rise of five places following his match figures of 12 for 283, including nine for 129 in the first innings. Maharaj is now ranked 18th in the world and his tally of points (692) is the most for a South Africa spinner since Paul Harris reached 705 in December 2009.

Maharaj was not the only slow bowler to improve his ranking. Sri Lanka off-spinners Dilruwan Perera and Akila Dananjaya have also made upward movements.

[interaction id=”5b50667b77f0ec756f57bbc4″]

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.