12 October, Dubai (CRICKETNMORE): Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has surged to the top of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers with a career-best haul of 13-140 in the final Test that helped defeat New Zealand by a massive 321 runs, India’s second biggest victory in terms of runs.
Ashwin, who was named man of the series after he finished with 27 wickets in a 3-0 sweep by India, now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests. Ranked third before the final Test in Indore, Ashwin has leapfrogged pace bowlers James Anderson and Dale Steyn to attain a career-best rating of 900 points.
Ashwin, who finished the 2015 year-end rankings as the number-one bowler and was also at the top briefly in July this year, has joined a select band to have touched a rating of 900 points since 2000, the others being Muttiah Muralidaran, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock.
ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 12 October after the India-New Zealand series)
Bowlers (top 10)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 (+2) R. Ashwin Ind 900! 24.29 900 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 878 22.24 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
3 (-1) James Anderson Eng 870 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016
4 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 836 28.52 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
5 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 831 28.71 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
6 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 806* 27.48 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
7 (-1) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 805* 23.52 809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
8 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 792! 27.36 792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016
9 (+1) Neil Wagner NZ 731* 29.63 760 v SA at Centurion 2016
10 (+1) V. Philander SA 723 22.09 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013