Photo Credit: Twitter Photo of @ICC
Pakistan opener Shan Masood’s solid first-innings century and crucial second innings knocks by the England pair of Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler reflect in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, which were updated on Sunday after the first Test in Manchester.
- Formerly top-ranked Yasir Shah also gains in update after opening Test in Manchester
Left-hander Masood’s knock of 156, which helped Pakistan take a 107-run first innings lead, has lifted him 14 places to a career-best 19th position, making him the second highest ranked Test batsman from his side after sixth-placed Babar Azam. Masood’s previous best was 32nd position in February this year.
Player of the Match Woakes has progressed 18 places to 78th position after figuring in a 139-run sixth-wicket stand with Buttler that guided England to a three-wicket win. Woakes, who scored 19 and 84 in the match, has also jumped to seventh position in the list of all-rounders. Buttler’s innings of 38 and 75 have lifted him from 44th to 30th while Ollie Pope has attained a career-best 36th position after scoring 62 and seven.
In the bowlers’ list, Pakistan leg-spinners Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan have made notable gains. Shah, a formerly top-ranked bowler, has moved up two places to 22nd place after finishing with eight wickets in the match. Shadab has re-entered the rankings at a career-best 69th position.
For England, Stuart Broad remains in third position after taking six wickets in the match, but has closed the gap with New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner to seven points. Jofra Archer’s four wickets have helped him advance two places to 37th in the list.
In the ICC World Test Championship points table, England have moved to 266 points, within 30 points of second-placed Australia. India lead the table with 360 points, New Zealand are fourth with 180 points and Pakistan fifth at 140.
Each series of the WTC is worth 120 points, distributed evenly over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series. More on the WTC is available here.
MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings (as of 9 August, after the first England-Pakistan Test in Manchester):
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/–) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | (-) | Steve Smith | Aus | 911 | 62.84 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 2 | (-) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 886 | 53.62 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 3 | (-) | Marnus Labuschagne | Aus | 827*! | 63.43 | 827 v NZ at Sydney 2020 |
| 4 | (+1) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 812 | 50.99 | 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019 |
| 5 | (+2) | David Warner | Aus | 793 | 48.94 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 6 | (-) | Babar Azam | Pak | 791 | 44.74 | 800 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020 |
| 7 | (–3) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 775 | 37.84 | 827 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 8 | (-) | Cheteshwar Pujara | Ind | 766 | 48.66 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 9 | (-) | Joe Root | Eng | 742 | 48.05 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 10 | (-) | Ajinkya Rahane | Ind | 726 | 42.88 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/–) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 19 | (+14) | Shan Masood | Pak | 653! | 33.62 | 653 v Eng at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 30= | (+14) | Jos Buttler | Eng | 589 | 32.31 | 635 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2018 |
| 36= | (+10) | Ollie Pope | Eng | 564*! | 42.20 | 564 v Pak at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 78= | (+18) | Chris Woakes | Eng | 396 | 27.25 | 496 v Ind at Lord’s 2018 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/–) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | (-) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 904 | 21.82 | 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019 |
| 2 | (-) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 843 | 26.60 | 859 v Aus at Melbourne 2019 |
| 3 | (-) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 836 | 27.79 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 4 | (-) | Tim Southee | NZ | 812! | 29.00 | 812 v Ind at Christchurch 2020 |
| 5 | (-) | Jason Holder | WI | 810 | 26.69 | 862 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 6 | (-) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 802 | 22.95 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 7 | (-) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 797 | 26.97 | 807 v NZ at Perth 2019 |
| 8 | (-) | Jasprit Bumrah | Ind | 779* | 20.33 | 834 v WI at Jamaica 2019 |
| 9 | (-) | Trent Boult | NZ | 770 | 27.65 | 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 |
| 10= | (-) | Josh Hazlewood | Aus | 769 | 26.20 | 864 v Ind at Begaluru 2017 |
| 10= | (+3) | Mohammad Abbas | Pak | 769* | 20.84 | 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/–) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 22 | (+2) | Yasir Shah | Pak | 623 | 30.16 | 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 |
| 37 | (+2) | Jofra Archer | Eng | 412* | 29.21 | 465 v Aus at The Oval 2019 |
| 69 | (RE) | Shadab Khan | Pak | 202*! | 36.64 | 202 v Eng at Old Trafford 2020 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/–) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | (-) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 464 | 497 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 2 | (-) | Jason Holder | WI | 447 | 485 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 3 | (-) | Ravindra Jadeja | Ind | 397 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 4 | (-) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 298 | 346 v India at Pune 2017 |
| 5 | (-) | Ravichandran Ashwin | Ind | 281 | 492 v Eng at Mohali 2016 |
For more information on player rankings, please click here.
