ICC announce latest Test rankings

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the current Test rankings after the conclusion of the second Test between Sri Lanka and West Indies.

While India remains the No 1 Test team, Virat Kohli is currently at the 2^nd spot in the batsmen rankings. Given that the No 1 batsman Steve Smith has been banned for 1 year, the time is not far away from Kohli will top the charts.

While Ravi Jadeja (3) has been the biggest gainer in the bowling department, Ravi Ashwin is at the 5^th spot. Jadeja and Ashwin are ranked 2 and 4 in the all-rounders rankings respectively.

The fans have been witness to some quality cricket in the last month. In the ODI setup, the series between Australia and England is going on in which England have taken a 2-0 lead in the five match ODI series.

Also Read: How India can top the ICC ODI rankings

After West Indies won the first test against Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka bounced back in the second match. At one point, they are lagging behind till the beginning of the 3rd innings. Also, there was a lot of furor about the ball tampering issue in which Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal was accused of.

Against all odds, Sri Lanka bounced back from behind and came in a winning situation. However, it was Kraigg Braithwaite’s fighting half century and bad light which did not allow Sri Lanka to level the series.

However, the shining light for Windies was pacer Shannon Gabriel who bagged a 13-wicket haul in the 2nd Test. Gabriel has climbed to a career-high 12th spot. Sri Lankan batsman Kusal Mendis too benefitted from his exploits and jumped four places to reach the 12th position.

Another match that drew the attention of the fans was the inaugural Test match of Afghanistan that was played from the 14th of June at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. The match however was wrapped up in just 2 days, with India defeating Afghanistan by a comprehensive innings and 262 runs.

For India, Ravindra Jadeja was the biggest gainer as moved up one place to reach the third spot in the bowlers’ rankings. Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who hit a century each, have also climbed to the 23rd and 24th position respectively.