Williamson and Warner narrow the gap with number-one ranked de Villiers

·       19 points separate the top five Test batsmen as Taylor vaults into the top 10

 

·       Johnson sign off in ninth position; Jadeja rises to a career-high 13th spot

 

Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Australia’s David Warner have number-one ranked AB de Villiers firmly within their sights after achieving career-best rankings in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings, which were released today following the conclusion of the Bengaluru and Perth Tests.

 

Williamson has jumped three places to join Australia captain Steven Smith in second spot following scores of 166 and 32 not out, while Warner’s 253 and 24 have lifted him three places to fifth.

 

The top five batsmen, four of whom are likely to feature in the third Tests in Nagpur and Adelaide later this month, are now separated by just 19 points with Smith and Williamson trailing de Villiers by six points and Warner another 13 points behind. This means that the battle for the coveted number-one position, post the conclusion of the two series, remains tight as there will be a further reshuffle at the top of the order depending on how these batsmen perform.

 

Ross Taylor, who won the player of the match award at the WACA, has returned to the top 10 for the first time in 12 months. Taylor scored 290 and 36 not out, for which he has been rewarded with a jump of seven places that has put him in 10th spot.

 

Outside the top 20, there were movements for Adam Voges, Shikhar Dhawan and Usman Khawaja. Voges and Khawaja, who also scored centuries in Perth, have achieved career-best rankings to date by moving to 32nd and 47th positions, respectively, while Dhawan has gained five positions and is now in 33rd spot.

 

In the bowling chart, India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has achieved a career-best ranking. Jadeja returned figures of 16-2-50-4 in a rain-affected Test, which has lifted him eight places to 13th in the latest rankings. Jadeja is now the third India bowler to feature inside the top 20 after Ravichandran Ashwin (fifth) and Ishant Sharma (20th).

 

New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell is the other bowler who has improved his rankings. The right-arm fast bowler took three wickets in the Perth Test and has now moved up six places to 41st.

 

South Africa’s Dale Steyn has retained his number-one position but has fallen from the 900-point mark for the first time since December 2013 after missing the Bengaluru Test. He is now on 893 points, still 47 points clear of his nearest rival James Anderson of England.

 

Meanwhile, Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has signed off on his international cricket on a high.

 

The left-arm fast bowler, who won the ICC Cricketer of the Year awards in 2009 and 2014, has finished in ninth bowling position, 84thbatting spot and fifth in all-rounders’ category. March 2009 saw him rise to his career-best bowling, batting and all-rounders’ rankings of second, 44th and second, respectively.

 

In One-Day Internationals, Johnson, who won the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 as well as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 with Australia, peaked at number-two in April 2009, while his highest ranking of fourth in Twenty20 Internationals was in May 2010.

 

Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh continues to lead the all-rounders’ field and while Vernon Philander has dropped to fourth after missing the Bengaluru Test, Jadeja has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in 10th position.

 

The ICC Test Player Rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of Nagpur and Adelaide Tests.

 

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 18 November, after the conclusion of Bengaluru and Perth Tests)

 

Batsmen (top 10)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Ave        HS Rating

  1          ( - )         AB de Villiers     SA          899        52.14    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

   2=       ( - )         Steven Smith       Aus        893        56.08    936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

              (+3)       Kane Williamson   NZ          893!      49.26    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4          (-1)        Joe Root              Eng        886        54.90    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   5          (+2)       David Warner     Aus        880!      51.28    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   6=       (-2)        Hashim Amla      SA          851        51.66    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

               ( - )         Angelo Mathews SL          851        51.43    877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

   8          ( - )         Younus Khan      Pak         826        53.94    880 v SL at Lahore 2009

   9          ( - )         Alastair Cook      Eng        803        47.47    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  10         (+7)       Ross Taylor         NZ          797        46.98    871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

 

Other selected rankings (top 50)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

  12         (-1)        Murali Vijay       Ind         747!      42.83    747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

  14         (-1)        C. Pujara              Ind         725        49.48    851 v SA at Durban 2013

  16         (-1)        B. McCullum       NZ          708        38.74    760 v SL at Christchurch 2014

  17         (-1)        Virat Kohli          Ind         707        44.12    784 v NZ at Wellington 2014

  21         (-1)        Faf du Plessis      SA          644*     46.75    710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014

  24         ( - )         Ajinkya Rahane  Ind         636*     41.51    699 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2015

  27         (-2)        BJ Watling           NZ          608        39.14    644 v Eng at Headingley 2015

  32         (+12)     Adam Voges        Aus        564*!    61.20    564 v NZ at Perth 2015

  33         (+5)       Shikhar Dhawan Ind         560*     42.96    593 v SL at Galle 2015

  35         (-1)        Dean Elgar           SA          558*!    38.29    558 v Ind at Bengaluru 2015

  39         (-4)        Tom Latham        NZ          537*     38.28    569 v Pak at Dubai 2014

  47         (+18)     Usman Khawaja  Aus        471*!    40.05    471 v NZ at Perth 2015

 

Bowlers (top 10)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

   1          ( - )         Dale Steyn           SA          893        22.56    909 v WI at Centurion 2014

   2=       ( - )         James Anderson   Eng        846        28.96    847 v WI at Barbados 2015

               ( - )         Yasir Shah           Pak         846*!    24.17    846 v Eng at Sharjah 2015

   4          ( - )         Stuart Broad        Eng        840        29.12    852 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   5          ( - )         R. Ashwin            Ind         806        27.29    808 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   6          ( - )         Trent Boult          NZ          781        28.86    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

   7          ( - )         V. Philander         SA          761        22.08    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   8          (+1)       Rangana Herath     SL          751        29.49    851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

  9          (-1)        Mitchell Johnson   Aus        744        28.40    849 v Pak at Dubai 2014

  10         ( - )         Morne Morkel    SA          690        29.76    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

 

Other selected rankings (top 50)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         Avge      HS Rating

  11         ( - )         Tim Southee        NZ          687        32.28    799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

  13         (+8)       Ravindra Jadeja  Ind         665*!    26.19    665 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

  14         (-1)        Mitchell Starc     Aus        653*!    31.35    653 v NZ at Perth 2015

  18         (-1)        Nathan Lyon       Aus        628        34.17    648 v Eng at Melbourne 2013

  20         ( - )         Ishant Sharma     Ind         597        36.71    671 v WI at Dominica 2011

  21         (-3)        Josh Hazlewood Aus        594*     26.02    634 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2015

  34         ( - )         Amit Mishra        Ind         432*     35.21    436 v SA at Mohali 2015

  40         ( - )         Mark Craig          NZ          397*     44.52    404 v Eng at Headingley 2015

  41         (+6)       Doug Bracewell  NZ          383*     38.68    538 v WI at Jamaica 2012

  44         (-2)        Umesh Yadav     Ind         375*     38.95    412 v Aus at Melbourne 2014

 

All-rounders (top three)

 

Rank     (+/-)       Player                  Team     Pts         HS Rating

   1          ( - )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        384       419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

   2          ( - )         R. Ashwin            Ind         366       419 v WI at Mumbai 2013

   3          (+1)       Stuart Broad         Eng        315       382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012

   4          (-1)        V. Philander         SA          310*/    376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

   5          ( - )         Mitchell Johnson  Aus        247       384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009