Younis Khan returns to the top 5 of Test batsmen's ranking

Pakistan’s Younis Khan has returned to the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after belting his sixth career double-century which helped his side to record an impressive 10-wicket victory over England in the fourth and final Test of the series at The Oval.

Younis, who shared 11th position with India’s Ajinkya Rahane going into the final Test, slammed a fine 218 in the first innings to shoot up to fifth in the latest batting table, which is led by Australia captain Steve Smith.

Younis had started the series in fifth position but had dropped out of the top 10 following the third Test at Edgbaston when he slipped from ninth position.

Rahane has also made an upward movement after an impressive performance against the West Indies in the Gros Islet Test. Rahane has moved up three places to a career-best eighth rank after innings of 35 and 78 not out in India’s 237 runs victory over the West Indies which gave the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series.

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New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor’s unbeaten knocks of 124 and 67 against Zimbabwe has seen him gain five places to reach ninth rank after his team won the second Test at Bulawayo by 254 runs to clinch the two-match series 2-0.

England’s Moeen Ali has gained six places to move to 26th position, while his compatriot Jonny Bairstow (14th) and the Pakistan duo of Asad Shafiq (15th) and Azhar Ali (17th) have also gained one place each.

West Indian batsmen Darren Bravo (27th), Kraigg Braithwaite (33rd) and Marlon Samuels (40th) are other batsmen to move in the right direction.

The top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers has remained largely unchanged but New Zealand’s Neil Wagner has gained one spot to reach 13th, while England pace bowler Chris Woakes has gained two spots to reach 18th in a list led by England paceman James Anderson.

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Pakistan’s pace bowling pair of Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan, and the West Indies’ Miguel Cummins also made noticeable gains.

Left-armer Wahab has gained six slots to reach 27th after grabbing a total of five wickets at The Oval, while Sohail’s six wickets during that Test has seen him jump 21 places to 41st rank. Cummins has rocketed 59 places to 55th after match figures of nine for 102.

The all-rounders’ rankings are led by India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc has broken into the top five for the first time in fifth position after rising two places.

The Test player rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of the Colombo Test.

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ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 15 August, after the Tests in Oval, St Lucia and Bulawayo)

Batsmen (top 10)

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

1         ( – )        Steve Smith         Aus        904       58.41     936 v Eng at Lord’s 2015

2         ( – )        Joe Root Eng        878       54.86     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3         ( – )        K. Williamson     NZ         873       51.29     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4         ( – )        Hashim Amla      SA         860       51.45     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

5         (+7)       Younus Khan       Pak        845       53.72     880 v SL at Lahore 2009

6         (-1)        Adam Voges        Aus        824*!    79.55     824 v SL at Galle 2016

7         (-1)        AB de Villiers     SA         818       50.46     935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

8         (+3)       Ajinkya Rahane   Ind         785!      49.00     785 v WI at St Lucia 2016

9         (+5)       Ross Taylor         NZ         772       48.66     871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

10=      (-3)        Alastair Cook      Eng        770       47.31     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

(-1)        David Warner      Aus        770       48.82     880 v NZ at Perth 2015

Other selected rankings

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

12        (-4)        Misbah-ul-Haq    Pak        764       48.27    842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014

13        (-3)        Angelo Mathews SL          761       47.92    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

14        (+1)       Jonny Bairstow    Eng        744!      41.63    744 v Pak at The Oval 2016

15        (+1)       Asad Shafiq         Pak        739       42.85    758 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

16        (-3)        Virat Kohli          Ind         709       45.06    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

17        (+1)       Azhar Ali             Pak        692       43.27    753 v SL at Pallekele 2012

26        (+6)       Moeen Ali           Eng        617!      34.61    617 v Pak at The Oval 2016

27        (+3)       Darren Bravo       WI         616       39.96    709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012

33        (+2)       K. Brathwaite      WI         573       33.70    591 v Eng at Grenada 2015

40        (+6)       Marlon Samuels  WI         514       33.07    672 v Zim at Barbados 2013

43        (+7)       R. Ashwin            Ind         511       34.26    527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014

Bowlers (top 10)

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

1         ( – )        J.Anderson           Eng        870       28.28    884 v SL at Durham 2016

2         ( – )        R. Ashwin            Ind         858       25.21    876 v WI at Antigua 2016

3         (+1)       Dale Steyn           SA         841       22.53    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

4         (-1)        Stuart Broad        Eng        836       28.52    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

5         ( – )        Yasir Shah           Pak        806*     27.48    878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

6         ( – )        Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         781*     23.42    789 v SA at Delhi 2015

7         ( – )        Mitchell Starc     Aus        767!      27.88    767 v SL at Galle 2016

8         ( – )        Rangana Herath   SL          766       29.43    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

9         ( – )        Trent Boult          NZ         756       28.96    825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015

10        ( – )        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        755*     25.29    792 v WI at Hobart 2015

Other selected rankings

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

13          (+1)       Neil Wagner        NZ         699*!    30.43    699 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

18          (+2)       Chris Woakes      Eng        609*!    26.07    609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

27          (+6)       Wahab Riaz         Pak        490*!    34.50    490 v Eng at The Oval 2016

41          (+21)     Sohail Khan         Pak        387*!    40.71    387 v Eng at The Oval 2016

55          (+59)     M. Cummins       WI         307*!    21.00    307 v Ind at St Lucia 2016

59          (+8)       Ish Sodhi              NZ         296*!    46.42    296 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

78          (+6)       Roston Chase       WI         164*!    41.75    164 v Ind at St Lucia 2016

87          (+7)       Martin Guptill     NZ         87*       34.50    114 v Pak at Napier 2009

96          (+7)       M. Chinouya        Zim        48*!      62.66    48 v NZ at Bulawayo 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank     (+/-)       Player                 Team     Pts        Highest Rating

1         ( – )        R. Ashwin            Ind         438!      438 v WI at St Lucia 2016

2         ( – )        Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

3         ( – )        Moeen Ali           Eng        292 /*!  292 v Pak at The Oval 2016

4         ( – )        V. Philander        SA         275*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

5         (+2)       Mitchell Starc     Aus        262!      262 v SL at Galle 2016

*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