IND vs BAN: Shami, Agarwal rise up in ICC rankings

Mohammed Shami and Mayank Agarwal climbed to career-high ranking spots after their useful performances in the first Test in Indore.

Prolific run-maker: Mayank Agarwal now has 858 runs under his belt in the first eight Tests of his career.

India’s Mohammed Shami and Mayank Agarwal climbed to career-high ranking spots after their useful contributions to their team’s innings win over Bangladesh in Indore on Saturday.

Shami, who took seven wickets in the match, rose eight places to get to the seventh position among Test bowlers in the latest ICC rankings. His 790 rating points are the third best for an Indian fast bowler. Only Kapil Dev (877) and Jasprit Bumrah (832) have recorded more points. Also in the top 10 among bowlers is R. Ashwin. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, Shami’s peers in the fast bowling department, climbed one spot each to take the 20th and 22nd spots, respectively.

Among Test batsmen, Agarwal took the 11th spot. The 28-year-old, who scored 243 in India’s only innings in the match, has reached 691 rating points. He has now scored 858 runs in his first eight Tests.

Read | Shami, Umesh, Ishant and their trade secrets

Ravindra Jadeja climbed four spots to take the joint-35th position among batsmen. Spin partner Ashwin once again occupies the fourth position among all-rounders.

For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim’s knocks of 43 and 64 have helped him gain five places to reach the 30th position. Liton Das moved up from 92nd to the 86th position. Among bowlers, Abu Jayed, who took four wickets in Indore, has climbed 18 spots to now occupy the 62nd position after only six Tests.

Numero Uno

India strengthened its position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings by reaching 300 points. It is yet to concede a point, having gained a full 120 points each in its three-Test home series against South Africa and the two-Test series in the West Indies.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are on 60 points each after drawing their two-match series 1-1, while England and Australia are on 56 each after their five-match Ashes series ended 2-2. The West Indies and South Africa failed to get any points in their opening series.

Mushfiqur Rahim scored 43 and 64 in the two innings of the Indore Test. He now occupies the 30th spot among batsmen. Photo: R. V. Moorthy

 

Pakistan will play its first WTC series against Australia starting later this week. The first match of the two-Test series starts in Brisbane on Thursday while the second Test, a day-night fixture, will be played in Adelaide from November 29.

The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the U.K. in June, 2021, with the winner crowned the World Test Champion.