Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has recorded the highest ever rating points tally achieved by an Indian bowler as he consolidated his position at the top of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings after another successful Test in Melbourne that saw him finish with a nine-wicket match haul.
Bumrah, who is shortlisted for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and also the ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year award, has moved up from his previous tied high of 904 with Ravichandran Ashwin. His tally of 907 rating points now places him joint-17th in the all-time list with yesteryear spinner Derek Underwood of England.
The list is led by England seamers Sydney Barnes (932) and George Lohmann (931) who played more than a century ago while Imran Khan (922) and Muttiah Muralidaran (920) are third and fourth.
Cummins advances in all three lists: Australia captain Pat Cummins, who is joint-fifth with Glenn McGrath in that list with 914 rating points, is another one to gain in the latest rankings update after helping win the fourth match of their ICC World Test Championship series against India in Melbourne.
The first weekly update of 2025 that also considers performances in the first Test between South Africa and Pakistan in Centurion and the first Test between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Bulawayo, sees Cummins achieve a career-best third position in the all-rounders’ list, bettering the fifth position he attained in August 2019.
His scores of 49 and 41 have also lifted him 10 places to 97th among batters and his three wickets in each innings have helped him inch up one place to third position among bowlers with 837 rating points.
South Africa’s Marco Jansen has attained a career-best fifth position after his second innings haul of six for 52 helped him past 800 rating points for the first time while Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas has re-entered the rankings in 23rd position after taking seven wickets in the match.
Naseem Shah (up six places to 33rd) and Dane Paterson (up eight places to 46th) have progressed because of their performances in Centurion while Scott Boland of Australia (up seven places to 38th) and Brian Bennett of Zimbabwe (up 48 places to 94th) have also moved up the bowling rankings.
Saud Shakeel achieves career-best ranking: In the Test Batting Rankings, Pakistan’s left-hander Saud Shakeel is up to a career-best sixth position after scoring 84 in the second innings. Steve Smith has advanced three places to seventh after scoring 140 while India opener Yashaswi Jaiswal’s scores of 84 and 82 have helped him reach fourth position with a career-best 854 rating points.
South Africa opener Aiden Markram’s Player of the Match effort of 89 and 37 in Centurion places him in 16th position after gaining eight places while India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy is up 20 places to 53rd after his valiant century at number eight.
Sean Williams’ innings of 154 has taken him up to 19th place with 653 points – the highest by a batter form Zimbabwe since Brendan Taylor reached 684 back in 2014.
Afghanistan pair in the limelight: The Afghanistan pair of Rahmat Shah (234) and Hashmatullah Shahidi (246) both surpassed their country’s previous highest individual score and were rewarded with gains to 52nd and 57th positions, respectively.
In the ICC Men’s T20I Player Rankings, Pathun Nissanka of Sri Lanka is up three places to sixth among batters while Mitchell Santner of New Zealand (up five places to ninth) and Matheesha Pathirana (up eight places to 26th) have moved up the bowling rankings after the first two matches of their T20I series which hosts New Zealand lead 2-0.
Napoleonic Haze
Ellyse Perry played football world cups and women’s cricket.
Yellow Menace
The dubious honor of being called the worst Test batsman belongs to New Zealand’s Chris Martin. He has a poor batting average and only ever achieved double figures once. He was so bad that he even starred in an ad for Pulp Sport spoofing his (lack of) batting skills.