Hyderabad: Ravichandran Ashwin burst into top ten of the ICC Test bowling rankings, curtsey to his eight wickets haul in his first international match in 2019 against South Africa at ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in the recently concluded first Test of three-match Freedom series.
Alongside Ashwin opener, Rohit Sharma has been amply rewarded for his twin tons on opening debut in Test. His magnificent 176 in the first innings and 127 in the second saw him vault to a career-best ranking of 17.
Meanwhile, captain Virat Kohli had his points drop below 900. In the batting department, Steve Smith keeps the numero uno position intact with 937 points.
During the Visakhapatnam Test plethora of records were set. Ashwin, who donned Test white after almost a year, became the joint-fastest to take 350 Test wickets, a record that he now shares with legendary off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Ashwin's triumphant return has helped him move from 14th place to tenth among bowlers.
Upswing for Mayank
Opener Mayank Agarwal also reached his career-best position of 25 after his first-innings double century. Rohit and Mayank also shared an opening stand of 317 in the first innings.
Amongst the Indian pacers Mohammed Shami, who rocked South Africa batting line-up on the fifth-day pitch running through stumps, jumped to 16th and has reached a career-best points tally of 710 points.
South Africa's Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock, both of whom scored centuries in the first innings, also moved up in the rankings. De Kock is back in the top 10 after moving to seventh while Elgar has risen to 14th position.
India have gained 40 points in the ICC World Test Championship table after the win in Visakhapatnam and are now on 160 points.
