Jason Holder surges to top spot in ICC's rankings for Test all-rounders
West Indies skipper Jason Holder has soared to the top spot in the MRF Tyres ICC Test rankings for all-rounders following his remarkable man-of-the-match display against England at Barbados. With 440 rating points at the moment, the tall all-rounder leads the race, with Shakib Al Hasan behind him by 25 points.
Holder walked into the bat in the second innings after his side were reduced to 120-6 and went on to add 295 runs with Shane Dowrich. In reply, the Englishmen only managed 246 and therefore, fell short by a massive 381 runs.
The 27-year-old scored his maiden Test double century, in front of his home crowd. With the ball, he contributed with a couple of crucial wickets in the first innings. Despite being widely regarded as a bowler who can hit the long ball and play out a few deliveries, Holder has honed his batting standards in the last 12-15 months.
While he jumped two spots to reach the pinnacle in the list of the best all-rounders, Holder jumped 25 spots to reach No. 33 in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen.
A host of other stars including Pat Cummins and Roston Chase improved their world rankings as well. The former picked up his maiden 10-for in the first Test against Sri Lanka, including career-best figures of 6-23. Cummins is now the third best Test bowler in the world.
Dowrich, who struck an unbeaten 116, made a 14-spot jump to No.47 in the batsmen rankings. Roston Chase, who picked up eight wickets in the second innings. climbed up to 14th spot in the bowler's rankings.
With a lot left to play for, West Indies take on England in the second of three Tests on 31st January.
Top 10 all-rounders in Test cricket at the moment:
Rank 1: Jason Holder - 440 rating points
Rank 2: Shakib Al Hasan - 415 rating points
Rank 3: Ravindra Jadeja - 387 rating points
Rank 4: Ben Stokes - 344 rating points
Rank 5: Vernon Philander - 341 rating points
Rank 6: Ravichandran Ashwin - 321 rating points
Rank 7: Pat Cummins - 311 rating points
Rank 8: Moeen Ali - 274 rating points
Rank 9: Mitchell Starc - 241 rating points
Rank 10: Chris Woakes - 233 rating points