ICC Rankings: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane surge upwards
Accolades have come pouring in for India’s Ravichandran Ashwin following his 27-wicket haul in the Test series against New Zealand in India. The 30-year-old from Chennai has now reclaimed his spot at the top of the ICC bowler’s rankings, a position he held at the end of 2015 as well as in July.
It caps off what has been a brilliant series for the off-spinner. He entered the 200 wicket club in Test cricket, racked up 3 five-wicket hauls and won his 7th man of the series trophy. The highlight for Ashwin came in the 3rd Test where he was virtually unplayable as he picked up 13 wickets to help India whitewash the visitors.
Before the start of the 3rd Test in Indore, he sat behind England’s James Anderson and South Africa’s Dale Steyn in the bowler’s rankings. After his scintillating performance, he leapfrogged the duo and now sits at the top with a career-best rating of 900 points.
Since the turn of the century, Ashwin becomes only the 6th man to have breached the 900 point barrier after Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Shaun Pollock.
The Indian team is in the middle of one of its longest home seasons ever and are scheduled to play England next, before hosting Australia. Given the form that Ashwin has displayed at home, it will be a nearly impossible task to dislodge him from the top.
India’s other representative in the top 10, Ravindra Jadeja, fell one place and is now in 7th with 805 points.
ICC bowler’s top 10
| Rank | Player | Ranking Points |
| 1 | Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 900 |
| 2 | Dale Steyn (RSA) | 878 |
| 3 | James Anderson (ENG) | 870 |
| 4 | Stuart Broad (ENG) | 836 |
| 5 | Rangana Hearth (SL) | 831 |
| 6 | Yasir Shah (PAK) | 806 |
| 7 | Ravindra Jadeja (IND) | 805 |
| 8 | Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 792 |
| 9 | Neil Wagner (NZ) | 731 |
| 10 | Vernon Philander (RSA) | 723 |
Virat Kohli won the toss for all the Tests against New Zealand and his batsmen enjoyed a fairly enjoyable series, setting the perfect platform for the bowlers to run riot on the Kiwis.
Ajinkya Rahane’s reputation has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of months and he has seen a meteoric rise in the rankings too.
Prior to the 3rd Test, he was in 11th place. After a career-best knock of 188 in the first innings and 23 not out in the second innings in Indore, Rahane jumped 5 places to attain a career-best position of 6th place.
Cheteshwar Pujara was India’s highest scorer in the series with 373 runs but his incredible performance only saw him rise one position in the rankings. He is now in 14th place, 2 places ahead of his captain Virat Kohli.
Virat Kohli himself saw a rise after his second double-century in Indore, he jumped 4 places and is now in 16th place.
ICC batsmen’s top 10
| Rank | Player | Ranking Points |
| 1 | Steve Smith (AUS) | 906 |
| 2 | Joe Root (ENG) | 878 |
| 3 | Hashim Amla (RSA) | 847 |
| 4 | Younis Khan (PAK) | 845 |
| 5 | Kane Williamson (NZ) | 841 |
| 6 | Ajinkya Rahane (IND) | 825 |
| 7 | Adam Voges (AUS) | 802 |
| 8 | AB de Villiers (RSA) | 802 |
| 9 | David Warner (AUS) | 772 |
| 10 | Alastair Cook (ENG) | 770 |
Among the all-rounders, Ravichandran Ashwin solidified his place at the top and now has 451 rating-points, his highest ever. His partner-in-crime, Ravindra Jadeja, broke into the top 3 after jumping one place after his performance in Indore.
ICC all-rounders’ top 5
| Rank | Player | Ranking Points |
| 1 | Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) | 451 |
| 2 | Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) | 384 |
| 3 | Ravindra Jadeja (IND) | 292 |
| 4 | Moeen Ali (ENG) | 292 |
| 5 | Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 279 |