Ashwin grabs career-best second spot in Test rankings

Dubai, November 30 - India's off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin jumped three places to his career-best second spot among the Test bowlers after he took 12 wickets in India's 124-run win over South Africa in Nagpur, while his teammates Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja also gained places in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings released on Monday.

Ashwin's ascent means that England pacer James Anderson and Pakistan leggie Yasir Shah drop to joint third on 846 points, while England's Stuart Broad falls to fifth. Indian leg-spinner Amit Misra jumped two spots to be 31st, while left-armer Jadeja moved up a place to be 11th, according to an ICC release.

Among other bowlers who created big impact last week, Josh Hazlewood produced man-of-the-match figures of nine wickets for 136 runs as Australia clinched the three-Test series 2-0 inside three days in the inaugural day/night Test. In doing so, the 24-year-old soared 10 places to 10th.

Despite dropping three places to 18th, there was good news for Peter Siddle who reached the 200 Test wicket milestone in Adelaide.

Other bowlers to head in the right direction during the Nagpur and Adelaide Tests were South African Imran Tahir (up by 14 places to 35th) in making career-high gains, while New Zealander Doug Bracewell is one place and a single point further back in 36th after gaining four places.

There were also career-high gains for Australian Mitchell Marsh (up five to 55th) and Proteas' Dean Elgar (up five to 68th) in a list which continues to be led by South Africa’s Dale Steyn.

Meanwhile, Murali Vijay is the top ranked India batsman in 12th position, while his captain Virat Kohli has moved up one place to 16th. There were also gains for Shikhar Dhawan (up one to 32nd) and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha (up 10 to a career-high 92nd).

South African Jean-Paul Duminy also moved up three places to 40th after scores of 35 and 19 in a low scoring match.

Australia captain Steven Smith and England’s Joe Root have regained joint pole position for Test batsmen, as AB de Villiers has dropped two places to the third. The South Africa middle-order batsman now trails the duo by nine points, but a strong showing in the fourth Test in New Delhi could see him regain the top billing.

New Zealand opener Tom Latham has moved up four places to the 35th after scores of 50 and 10, while Mitchell Santner rocketed into 66th position after a mature showing on his debut where he scored 31 and 45.

For hosts Australia, Shaun Marsh has moved up eight places to 56th, while there were career-high rankings for Mitchell Starc (up five to 73rd) and Peter Nevill, buoyed by a first innings 66 and who is the highest mover overall (up 22 places to 79th).

There is one change in the top five all-rounders as Starc has moved up to a career-high fifth position.

Meanwhile, in the Test championship, Australia have moved into second position on team table on 109 points following their 2-0 series win.

An India victory in the fourth and final Test in New Delhi would see them claim a 3-0 series win and see Kohli’s men move into second place on 110 points.

In that scenario, the Proteas’ advantage at the top would be cut to just four points, with Australia dropping to the third and Pakistan to fourth place.

Agency