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Jadeja takes top spot in ICC Test Rankings for bowlers


Ravindra Jadeja, India all-rounder, who returned figures of 5 for 124 and 4 for 52 in respective innings of the recently-concluded Ranchi Test against Australia, has cemented his place at the top in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers.
Earlier, the top spot was jointly held by Jadeja and his spin partner Ravichandran Aswhin. With 862 rating points to his name, Ashwin, who could only manage two wickets in the Test, has fallen 37 points behind Jadeja. The left arm spinner, on the other hand, has 899 rating points and is on the brink of becoming only the second bowler after Aswhin to touch the 900-point mark. He is also only the third Indian bowler after Ashwin and Bishan Singh Bedi to have topped the ICC Test rankings for the bowlers.
The latest rankings include the Colombo Test, which saw Bangladesh register a historic win against Sri Lanka, and the Wellington Test where South Africa thwarted New Zealand to go 1-0 up in the series.
South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj, who had a stellar outing in the Wellington Test, has benefited 15 places and now occupies the career-best 37th spot, while Indian pacer Umesh Yadav (26th) and Bangladesh's pace spearhead Mustafizur Rahman (47th) too have achieved their career-best rankings.
As far as the batsmen's rankings are concerned, Australia captain Steve Smith continues to top the chart. Smith, who scored 178 and 21 in respective innings of Ranchi Test, has now aggregated a career-high of 941 points. His tally is the joint-fifth highest ever along with Peter May. Only Sir Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (942) have achieved higher rating points.
Indian batsman Cheteshwar too has benefited courtesy his marathon innings of 202 in the recently drawn Test against Australia. Pujara has replaced New Zealand captain Kane Williamson at the second spot. Williamson, whose lean patch with the bat continued in Wellington, has fallen behind Joe Root and Virat Kohli to become the fifth ranked Test batsmen.
Ashwin has suffered in the rankings for the all-rounders as well. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan, who was the Man of the the Series in the recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, has supplanted Aswhin from the top. Shakib, who scored a match-winning ton in the Colombo Test, has leaped in the rankings for the batsmen as well, achieving his career-best 21st spot.
Meanwhile, the race between Australia and South Africa to grab the second spot in the Test rankings has become interesting. With the cut-off date (April 1) nearing, India are assured of the top spot and thus a cash reward of $1 million. Australia, provided they finish with at least a draw in the Dharamsala Test, beginning 25th of this month, will finish second in the rankings. South Africa, however, can finish second if Australia lose the fourth Test and the former manage either a draw or win against New Zealand in Hamilton. The team finishing second in the rankings gets $500,000.

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