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Azhar Ali up to #6 in the Test batting rankings

hadi123

Test Debutant
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England all-rounder Ben Stokes has moved up to take career-best positions in both batting and bowling, in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after a fine show in the third Test against South Africa at The Oval, which his side won by 239 runs on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Stokes has moved up 12 places to joint-25th position in the rankings for batsmen with scores of 112 and 31, while also gaining two places to reach 19th position in the list for bowlers after grabbing one for 26 and two for 51. His effort also sees him overtake South Africa’s Vernon Philander to take fifth position in the list of all-rounders.

In the latest rankings, which also take into account performances in the first Test at Galle in which India defeated Sri Lanka by 304 runs on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, saw other England players make notable gains too.

Jonny Bairstow has gained three slots to reach ninth position with scores of 36 and 63, opening batsman Alastair Cook has moved up three places to 12th position with scores of 88 and seven, while in the bowlers’ rankings, James Anderson (up one place to joint-third) and Moeen Ali (up one place to 18th) have made upward movement. Debutants Tom Westley (70th) and Toby Roland-Jones (54th) have entered the rankings in style among batsmen and bowlers, respectively.

For South Africa, left-handed opener Dean Elgar’s innings of eight and 136 have lifted him three places to 15th position while left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has gained four slots and attained a career-best 22ndposition after his four wickets at The Oval.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan’s scores of 190 and 14 have lifted the left-hander 21 slots to 39th position, while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has leapfrogged Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath to wrest back the second position among bowlers to again make it a 1-2 for India with Ravindra Jadeja retaining the top spot. Pace bowler Mohammad Shami has gained one slot to reach 23rd rank.

Sri Lanka all-rounder Angelo Mathews has gained two places to reach 17th position after scores of 83 and two at Galle, while batsman Dimuth Karunaratne (up three places to 36th) and pace bowler Nuwan Pradeep (up three places to a career-best 30th) are the others to move up the rankings.


MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 1 August, after the third Test between England and South Africa at The Oval and the first Test between Sri Lanka and India in Galle)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 941! 61.05 941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 885 53.26 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 880 51.16 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 866 ! 52.18 866 v SL at Galle 2017

5 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 826 50.03 895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

6 (+2) Azhar Ali Pak 769 46.86 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

7 (+2) David Warner Aus 759 47.42 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

8 (-2) Q. de Kock SA 756* 46.65 802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

9 (+3) J. Bairstow Eng 745 40.86 759 v Ind at Mohali 2016

10 (-3) Hashim Amla SA 741 48.91 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

12 (+2) A. Cook Eng 736 46.18 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

15 (+3) Dean Elgar SA 714 40.14 740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

17 (+2) A. Mathews SL 677 45.75 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

25= (+12) Ben Stokes Eng 614! 34.19 614 v SA at The Oval 2017

36= (+3) D. Karunaratne SL 574 34.24 619 v WI at Galle 2015

40 (+3) T. Bavuma SA 552* 31.75 563 v Aus at Hobart 2016

39 (+21) S. Dhawan Ind 559 41.70 593 v SL at Galle 2015

40 (+3) T. Bavuma SA 552* 31.75 563 v Aus at Hobart 2016

70 (NEW) Tom Westley Eng 407*! 42.00 407 v SA at The Oval 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 897 23.12 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

2 (+1) R. Ashwin Ind 849 25.39 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

3= (-1) R. Herath SL 828 28.15 867 v Zim at Harare 2016

(+1) J. Anderson Eng 828 28.20 884 v SL at Durham 2016

5 (-1) J. Hazlewood Aus 826 25.39 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

6 ( - ) K. Rabada SA 773* 24.64 821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

7 (+1) Dale Steyn SA 771 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014

8 (-2) Stuart Broad Eng 767 28.76 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

9 ( - ) V. Philander SA 759 22.45 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 745 28.90 767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

18 (+1) Moeen Ali Eng 605! 37.95 605 v SA at The Oval 2017

19 (+2) Ben Stokes Eng 590*! 34.46 590 v SA at The Oval 2017

22 (+4) K. Maharaj SA 576*! 25.97 576 v Eng at The Oval 2017

23 (+1) M. Shami Ind 566* 32.48 595 v Eng at Mohali 2016

30 (+3) N. Pradeep SL 501*! 42.04 501 v Ind at Galle 2017

54 (NEW) T. Roland-Jones Eng 306*! 16.12 306 v SA at The Oval 2017

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 431 443 v NZ at Christchurch 2017

2 ( - ) R. Jadeja Ind 414 422 v Aus at Dharamsala 2017

3 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 413 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

4 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 374 384 v SA at Lord's 2017

5 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 362 /*! 362 v SA at The Oval 2017

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/444311
 
No doubt of Stokes' capability, he just needs to be more consistent to improve in stature (and rankings).

Quite a large points difference between Azhar and the top five so he'll find it tough to climb further up the rankings.
 
Moeen Ali at 18?!? Stokes at 19?!?! Maharaj at 22?!? What is this nonsense?!?!?!?!?!?! These rankings are a joke.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="in" dir="ltr">Alhamdulillah <a href="https://t.co/HsWiiq4XqX">https://t.co/HsWiiq4XqX</a></p>— Azhar Ali (@AzharAli_) <a href="https://twitter.com/AzharAli_/status/892355569264316420">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well done brother,only 5more to climb InshaAllah</p>— sohail tanveer (@sohailmalik614) <a href="https://twitter.com/sohailmalik614/status/892368381722210304">August 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's right.

:salute
 
Well deserved. Agree with current ranking, I wouldn't have Azhar behind Pujara though
 
i really hope he cashes in big time against SL in the UAE to try and close the gap on the top 5.
 
i really hope he cashes in big time against SL in the UAE to try and close the gap on the top 5.

Climbing up is going to be even harder for him because we don't play many Tests. :facepalm:
 
Great happy for Azhar!

And extra happy because this is the new generation of Pakistani players. Humble, hardworking team players who put the team first and dont take playing for Pakistan for granted. Pakistan has already suffered quite a lot due to politics, infighting, selfishness even when we had 'Superstars' or the recent Messiahs.

This generation of players like Azhar, Sarfraz etc have given me hope and is setting a new trend. Hopefully will have a good effect on youngsters too and we can win trophies and big series' in future without having 'Superstars' and Messiahs.
 
Pujara is a home-track bully. He'll get exposed (again) sooner or later when India tour South Africa and England.

pujara scored a brilliant hundreds in south africa in 2011. I think he will be prolific away from home now. awesome test batsman.
 
pujara scored a brilliant hundreds in south africa in 2011. I think he will be prolific away from home now. awesome test batsman.

He might do better this time because he has definitely improved since India's last overseas tours. But at present, he averages 64 at home and 33 away
 
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