Dubai, Mar 11 (Agency) Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant reached his career-best seventh position in the latest ICC men’s Test player rankings released on Wednesday after smashing a match-winning 101 in the fourth Test against England in Ahmedabad. Pant’s century helped India won the last Test against England in Ahmedabad by an innings and 25 runs and clinch the series 3-1. The left-handed batsman moved up seven slots and shares seventh place with compatriot Rohit Sharma, who has inched up one spot, and Henry Nicholls of New Zealand. Pant’s 747 rating points are the joint-15th highest by any India batsman, and the highest by a full-time Test wicketkeeper from his country.
Washington Sundar, who also played a crucial role in India’s passage to the final of the ICC World Test Championship, has gained 39 places and is in 62nd position, thanks to his 96 not out. However, captain Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara had below-par series. Kohli is at his lowest points tally since November 2017 while Pujara is under 700 rating points for the first time since September 2016. There was no surprise in the rankings reflecting kindly on spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel, who ripped through the England innings time and again during the series.
Ashwin, the player of the series, leapfrogged New Zealand’s Neil Wagner to the second position among bowlers, the first time since August 2017, after finishing with eight wickets in the match. He is also ranked fourth among all-rounders, now ahead of Shakib Al Hasan. Patel’s nine wickets have lifted him eight places to 30th with 552 rating points.Only two bowlers have achieved more points after their first three Tests – former India leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani (564) and Australia fast bowler Charlie Turner (553) who played in the 19th century. For England, Dan Lawrence moved up 47 places to 93rd among batsmen with scores of 46 and 50 and James Anderson moved up two places to fourth position after his haul of three for 44 in Ahmedabad. Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan inside two days and captain Sean Williams’s knock of 105 in Abu Dhabi helped him move up 24 places to 43rd. Sikandar Raza was another one to move up, a gain of eight places taking him up to 56th position. Blessing Muzarabani reentered the rankings in a creditable 86th position after finishing with six wickets in the match while Victory Nyanchi (up 37 places to 57th) and Donald Tripano (up seven places to 77th) were other Zimbabwe bowlers to gain.