KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan achieve career-best rankings

Openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul have attained career-high positions in the ICC Test Player Rankings after figuring in an important partnership that helped India defeat Sri Lanka by an innings and 171 runs to complete a 3-0 rout of the home side.

Left-hander Dhawan, who top-scored with 119 in the final Test in Pallekele, has moved up 10 places to 28th position after India won inside three days on Monday. This was the Delhi batsman’s second century in three Tests as he finished with 358 runs and was named the player of the series.

Rahul has moved up two positions to equal his career-best ninth position after a contribution of 85 in the opening stand of 188 that came in under 40 overs. Rahul has thus equalled his career-best ninth rank attained in July this year but the present tally of 761 rating points is his highest till date.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya’s 96-ball knock of 108 has seen him gain 45 positions to reach a career-best 68th rank among batsmen, while pace bowlers Mohammad Shami (up one place to 19th position) and Umesh Yadav (up one place up to a career-best 21st position) have gained among bowlers.

Rapid strides for Chinaman bowlers

There was good news for Chinaman bowlers too as India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Sri Lanka’s Lakshan Sandakan have made rapid strides. Kuldeep Yadav, coming in for Ravindra Jadeja, has moved up 29 slots to 58th place after returning figures of four for 40 and one for 56, while Sandakan’s haul of five for 132 has helped him gain 16 places to reach 57th position.

Other Sri Lanka players to move up in the rankings include batsmen Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella. Chandimal has gained two slots to reach 33rd position while Dickwella has gained seven slots to reach a career-best 61st position.

Shakib back to No. 1

In the list for all-rounders, Jadeja has lost the top slot to Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hassan after missing the Pallekele Test owing to a one-match suspension after accumulating six demerit points inside a 24-month period. Jadeja has slipped one point behind Shakib’s tally of 431 points but remains at the top of the bowling rankings.

Top-ranked India and seventh-placed Sri Lanka have retained their positions in the team rankings with India gaining two points to reach 125 points, increasing its lead over South Africa to 15 points.

Meanwhile, England hosts the West Indies for a three-Test series starting Thursday, which it may have to win in order to remain in third position, depending on the results of a two-Test series between Bangladesh and Australia that starts later this month but ends earlier on 8 September. Australia will go up to 101 points if it wins the series 2-0.

Series scenarios:

England wins 3-0 – England 107 points; West Indies 72 points.

England wins 2-0 – England 106 points; West Indies 74 points.

England wins 1-0 or 2-1 – England 105 points; West Indies 75 points.

West Indies wins 1-0 or 2-1 – England 100 points; West Indies 82 points.

West Indies wins 2-0 – England 99 points; West Indies 84 points.

West Indies wins 3-0 – England 98 points; West Indies 85 points.

Series schedule:

17-21 August – 1st Test, Edgbaston

25-29 August – 2nd Test, Headingley

7-11 September – 3rd Test, Lord’s

Rank Team              Points

1          India                125 (+2)

2          South Africa   110

3          England           105

4          Australia          100

5          New Zealand    97

6          Pakistan            93

7          Sri Lanka           90 (-1)

8          West Indies       75

9          Bangladesh       69

10        Zimbabwe         00

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 15 August, after the third and final Test between Sri Lanka and India in Pallekele):

Batsmen (top 10)

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

1       ( – )       Steve Smith      Aus      941!     61.05   941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2       ( – )       Joe Root          Eng      891       53.21   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

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

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

5       ( – )       Virat Kohli         Ind        806       49.55   895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

6       (+1)      Jonny Bairstow Eng      772!     41.26   772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

7       (+1)      Azhar Ali           Pak      769       46.86   787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

8       (+1)      Hashim Amla     SA        764       49.00   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

9       (+2)      Lokesh Rahul    Ind        761*!    46.27   761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

10       (-4)       Ajinkya Rahane Ind        760       47.61   825 v NZ at Indore 2016

Other selected rankings

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

28         (+10)     S. Dhawan        Ind        612!     43.38   612 v SL at Pallekele 2017

33         (+2)      D. Chandimal    SL        603      41.00   692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

61         (+7)      N. Dickwella      SL        458*!    30.89   458 v Ind at Pallekele 2017

68         (+45)     H. Pandya         Ind        428*!    59.33   428 v SL at Pallekele 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

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

1       ( – )       R. Jadeja          Ind        884      23.60    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

2       ( – )       J. Anderson      Eng      860      27.90    884 v SL at Durham 2016

3       ( – )       R. Ashwin         Ind        852      25.26    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

4       ( – )       J. Hazlewood    Aus      826      25.39    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

5       ( – )       R. Herath          SL        809      28.25    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

6       ( – )       K. Rabada        SA        785*     24.56    821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

7       ( – )       Stuart Broad     Eng      775      28.64    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

8       ( – )       Dale Steyn        SA        763      22.30    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

9       ( – )       V. Philander      SA        751      22.45    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10       ( – )       Neil Wagner      NZ        745      28.90    767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

Other selected rankings

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

19       (+1)      M. Shami          Ind        618*!    30.87   618 v SL at Pallekele 2017

21       (+1)      Umesh Yadav   Ind        576*!    35.93   576 v SL at Pallekele 2017

57       (+16)     L. Sandakan      SL        295*     30.55   319 v Aus at Galle 2016

58       (+29)     Kuldeep Yadav Ind        293*!    20.77   293 v SL at Pallekele 2017

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts       Highest Rating

1       (+1)      S. Al Hasan       Ban      431      443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017

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

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

4       ( – )       Moeen Ali         Eng      409!     409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

5       ( – )       Ben Stokes       Eng      360 /*   362 v SA at The Oval 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