Photo Credit: New Zealand Cricket
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has surged ahead of Steve Smith and Virat Kohli to seize the top spot for batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after his player of the match effort in the first Test against Pakistan in Tauranga.
MRF TYRES ICC MEN’S TEST BATTING RANKINGS
- De Silva, Du Plessis, Fawad, Rahane and Wade others to move up in the rankings
- Ashwin, Fernando, Jamieson, Ngidi, Starc and Shaheen among bowlers to advance
Willamson had briefly occupied the top spot towards the end of 2015 but either Smith or Kohli have been number one since then. This year too, Smith was at the top for 313 days and Kohli for 51, before Williamson surged ahead of his two contemporaries from the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2008.
In Thursday’s year-ending update, that also includes performances from the second Test between Australia and India in Melbourne and the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Centurion, Williamson has gained 13 rating points for his effort of 129 and 21 to go 11 points clear of Kohli and 13 ahead of Smith. Kohli is on paternity leave for the last three Tests of India’s ongoing series against Australia while Smith’s MCG outing could only get him scores of zero and eight.
Ross Taylor (up three places to 14th) is another New Zealand batsman to move up while 26-year-old fast bowler Kyle Jamieson has reached the top 30 after just five Tests, following his hauls of three for 35 and two for 35 in Tauranga.
For Pakistan, Fawad Alam’s valiant second-innings century has lifted him 80 places to 102nd position while wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan’s scores of 71 and 60 have helped him advance 27 places to a career-best 47th position. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has moved from 35th to 33rd after grabbing four wickets in the first innings.
Ajinkya Rahane, leading in Kohli’s absence, has gained big after guiding India to a series-levelling eight-wicket win in Melbourne with scores of 112 and 27 not out. Rahane has advanced five places to reach sixth position, just one below his career-best of fifth attained in October 2019.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (up two places to seventh) and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah (up one place to ninth) have made notable gains within the top 10.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is another big gainer, moving up 11 spots to a career best-equalling 36th place among batsmen after a handy knock of 57 in his only innings in Melbourne and gaining four places to reach 14th place among bowlers after finishing with three wickets in the match. He remains third among all-rounders but has reduced the gap with Jason Holder 34 to seven points.
Debutants Shubman Gill and Mohammad Siraj have made notable entries in 76th and 77th positions in the list for batsmen and bowlers, respectively. Gill scored 45 and 35 not out opening the innings while Siraj finished with five wickets in the match.
Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc’s four wickets in the match have helped him reach a career best-equalling fifth position. Matthew Wade’s scores of 30 and 40 as opener helped him reach 50th among batsmen from 55th while Cameron Green has gained 36 slots to reach 115th position.
In Centurion, a knock of 199 by Faf du Plessis saw him not only win the player of the match award but also gain 14 places to reach 21st position, one behind team-mate Dean Elgar, who too gained four spots after a knock of 95. Lungi Ngidi has gained four places and is 56th among bowlers.
For Sri Lanka, Dinesh Chandimal’s knocks of 85 and 25 have lifted him three places to 38th while Dhananjaya de Silva (up nine places to 34th) and Kusal Perera (up four places to 60th) have also made notable gains among batsmen. Left-arm fast bowler Vishwa Fernando has gained two slots to reach 45th position after his three-wicket haul.
In the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, New Zealand are in line to wrest the top spot from Australia, who remain fractionally ahead since the Test team rankings are updated only at the end of each series. Even a draw in the second Test against Pakistan though could see New Zealand take the top spot. The predictor function is available here.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 31 December 2020 after the Melbourne, Centurion and Tauranga Tests)
Batsmen (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 (+2) K Williamson NZ 890 52.90 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019
2 ( – ) Virat Kohli India 879 53.41 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
3 (-2) Steve Smith Aus 877 61.33 947 v SA at Durban 2018
4 ( – ) M Labuschagne Aus 850*! 58.81 850 v India at Melbourne 2020
5 ( – ) Babar Azam Pak 789 45.44 800 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020
6 (+5) Ajinkya Rahane India 784 43.40 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
7 (-1) David Warner Aus 777 48.94 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
8 (-1) Ben Stokes Eng 760 37.84 827 v WI at Old Trafford 2020
9 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 738 47.99 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
10 (-2) C Pujara India 728 47.60 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
14 (+3) Ross Taylor NZ 683 46.04 870 v WI at Hamilton 2013
20 (+4) Dean Elgar SA 639 39.04 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
21 (+14) Faf du Plessis SA 638 41.41 734 v India at Centurion 2018
24 (+2) Aiden Markram SA 621* 39.26 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
34 (+9) D de Silva SL 585 36.64 612 v Zim at Harare 2016
36 (+11) R Jadeja India 574! 35.66 574 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
38= (+3) D Chandimal SL 572 41.10 755 v WI at St Lucia 2018
47 (+27) M Rizwan Pak 551*! 39.76 551 v NZ at Mount Maunganui 2020
50 (+5) Matthew Wade Aus 537*! 31.02 537 v India at Melbourne 2020
57 (+6) T Bavuma SA 499 31.40 627 v Pak at Cape Town 2019
60 (+4) Kusal Perera SL 492* 31.68 559 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2019
76 (NEW) Shubman Gill India 431*! 80.00 431 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
102= (+80) Fawad Alam Pak 311* 38.20 445 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2009
115 (+36) C Green Aus 264*! 22.66 264 v India at Melbourne 2020
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Pat Cummins Aus 906 21.51 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019
2 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 845 27.65 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
3 ( – ) Neil Wagner NZ 833 26.32 859 v Aus at Melbourne 2019
4 ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 826! 28.54 826 v Pak at Mount Maunganui 2020
5 (+2) Mitchell Starc Aus 804 26.75 807 v NZ at Perth 2019
6 ( – ) Kagiso Rabada SA 794 22.95 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
7 (+2) R Ashwin India 793 25.22 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
8 (-3) J Hazlewood Aus 790 25.86 864 v India at Bengaluru 2017
9 (+1) Jasprit Bumrah India 783* 20.68 834 v WI at Jamaica 2019
10 (-2) J Anderson Eng 781 26.79 903 v India at Lord’s 2018
Other selected rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
14 (+4) R Jadeja India 726 24.48 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
28= (+5) Kyle Jamieson NZ 521*! 14.44 521 v Pak at Mount Maunganui 2020
33 (+2) Shaheen Afridi Pak 483*! 32.12 483 v NZ at Mount Maunganui 2020
45 (+2) V Fernando SL 330* 34.65 385 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2019
53 (+5) Naseem Shah Pak 306* 35.40 311 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020
56 (+4) Lungi Ngidi SA 284* 26.55 405 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
61 (RE) Faheem Ashraf Pak 251* 28.75 292 v SA at Johannesburg 2019
70 (NEW) Lutho Sipamla SA 212*! 16.66 212 v SL at Centurion 2020
71 (RE) Dasun Shanaka SL 208* 32.63 269 v India at Kolkata 2017
77 (NEW) M Siraj India 188*! 15.40 188 v Aus at Melbourne 2020
All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Ben Stokes Eng 446 497 v WI at Old Trafford 2020
2 ( – ) Jason Holder WI 423 485 v Eng at Southampton 2020
3 ( – ) R Jadeja India 416 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
4 ( – ) S Al Hasan Ban 366 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
5 ( – ) Mitchell Starc Aus 301 346 v India at Pune 2017
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.
