ICC Test Bowlers Rankings: Ravichandran Ashwin reclaims top spot, Mohammad Shami makes comeback
Ravichandran Ashwin's maiden seven-wicket haul outside Asia propelled him to top spot in the latest ICC Test Bowlers Rankings. England's James Anderson and Stuart both moved up a spot while Pakistan's Yasir Shah fell four spots to No.5 and Chris Woakes rocketed up to No.23.
Ashwin, who picked up 7/83 in the second innings after failing to pick up a wicket in the first gained five points following the first Test against West Indies at Antigua and that coupled with Yasir’s poor performance meant that he took over the No.1 spot, which he held at the 2015 year-ending rankings.
With 876 rating points, the Indian off-spinner also achieved his career-best in terms of points and will be looking to keeping up the good work for the rest of the series. He also strengthened his grip on top spot in the all-rounders rankings with his century, which also helped him rise to No.45 in the batsman’s rankings.
Just a week after becoming the first wrist wrist spinner 2005 to climb to the top of the Test bowlers rankings with a 10-wicket haul in the first Test at Lord’s, Yasir Shah picked up just one in the second Test and conceded 46 points and fell behind Anderson, Broad and Steyn to fifth place.
Anderson’s four wickets in the second Test meant he earned seven points and is now just a point behind Ashwin on 875. Stuart Broad might have only picked up one wicket in the Old Trafford Test but still rose a place thanks to the leg spinner’s epic fall in ratings and that meant South Africa’s Dale Steyn moved into No.4 as well.
The rest of the top 10 are as they were with Ravindra Jadeja maintaining his sixth place despite not playing, while Trent Boult, Josh Hazlewood, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander rounded off the top ten.
The other major mover in the bowler’s rankings was Chris Woakes, who jumped up 10 places to 23rd after picking up seven wickets in the second Test. Indian fast bowlers Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami all made different mark on the rankings. While Ishant remained at No.20, Umesh gained six places to No. 24 and Shami returned to the rankings at 28th place.
ICC Test Rankings for bowlers
| Ranking | Batsman | Rating |
| 1 | Ravichandran Ashwin (India) | 876 |
| 2 | James Anderson (England) | 875 |
| 3 | Stuart Broad (England) | 852 |
| 4 | Dale Steyn (South Africa) | 841 |
| 5 | Yasir Shah (Pakistan) | 832 |
| 6 | Ravindra Jadeja (India) | 781 |
| 7 | Trent Boult (New Zealand) | 757 |
| 8 | Josh Hazlewood (Australia) | 741 |
| 9 | Morne Morkel (South Africa) | 724 |
| 10 | Vernon Philander (South Africa) | 717 |