ICC Rankings: Yasir Shah becomes the second-highest ranked Test bowler
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah has moved up three places to Number 2 in the latest ICC Test Bowling Rankings which were released following the completion of the Tests at Colombo and Dubai. This is the highest career ranking for Shah as he jumped above James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Trent Boult.
Shah picked up eight wickets for 180 runs in the second Test between Pakistan and England in Dubai. Pakistan won the Test by 178 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Shah is in the qualification phase, with respect to bowling rankings, as he has only 69 wickets. A bowler qualifies for full rating once he picks up 100 Test wickets.
Dale Steyn maintained his spot as the top-ranked bowler with a 78-point advantage over Shah. However, Shah can close the gap if he comes up with another top quality performance in the third Test at Sharjah.
Six other bowlers were able to achieve career-high Test rankings as a result of putting in good performances in recent Test matches.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Dhammika Prasad moved up to 15th position, leaping four places after picking up five wickets in the second Test at the P Sara Oval, Colombo. Sri Lankan spinner Dilruwan Perera and all-rounder Milinda Siriwardana reached the 26th and 71st spots respectively. Siriwardana moved up 44 places after picking up five wickets against West Indies.
West Indies captain Jason Holder reached a career-high 49th position while fellow West Indian Jerome Taylor's four match wickets helped him to reach 21st position.
After leading Pakistan to a huge victory in the second Test against England, bowling spearhead Wahab Riaz leapt up nine places to reach the 35th spot in the rankings. Fellow bowlers Imran Khan and Zulfiqar Babar reached ranking positions of 47 and 30 respectively.
For England, Mark Wood climbed 13 places to reach 48th position after picking up five wickets. Off-spinner Moeen Ali also moved up to reach 29th position.
Only one Indian bowler features in the Test top ten as Ravichandran Ashwin kept his 8th spot. Ashwin will be hoping to gain a good number of points in the upcoming four-match Test series against South Africa.
Top-ranked bowler Steyn will also be looking to put a good show to cement his place at the top of the ladder.
Here is the list of the top ten Test bowlers:
| Rank (+/-) | Name (Country) | Points |
| 1 (-) | Dale Steyn (South Africa) | 905 |
| 2 (+3) | Yasir Shah (Pakistan) | 827 |
| 3 (-) | James Anderson (England) | 824 |
| 4 (-2) | Stuart Broad (England) | 817 |
| 5 (-1) | Trent Boult (New Zealand) | 814 |
| 6 (-) | Mitchell Johnson (Australia) | 774 |
| 7 (-) | Vernon Philander (South Africa) | 770 |
| 8 (-) | Ravichandran Ashwin (India) | 760 |
| 9 (-) | Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) | 751 |
| 10 (-) | Tim Southee (New Zealand) |
713 |