After helping Australia win the second game of their ICC World Test Championship series against Bangladesh with a 10-wicket haul in MacKay, fast bowler Mitchell Starc achieved the top spot in the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings for the first time in his career.
Mitchell Starc, who leads Matt Henry and Jasprit Bumrah by 10 rating points, stole six for 12 and four for 39 to lead the innings and 51-run triumph.
Mitchell Starc was selected both the Player of the Match and the Player of the Series. His previous highest position was second, which he initially attained following the Boxing Day Test last year.
Although Bumrah’s most recent run at the top lasted only two months, he has a total of 697 days at the top, the most for an Indian bowler and the 14th most overall.
Another significant winner is England seam bowler Ollie Robinson, who moved up 15 places to 11th among bowlers with five for 51 and three for 39. Robinson won Player of the Match in an innings-and-103-run victory over Pakistan in the first of three Tests in Leeds.
Josh Tongue has moved up 16 spots to 17th place after taking eight wickets at Headingley. After collecting 10 wickets in India’s 165-run victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar has advanced 28 spots to a career-best 48th. Bowlers Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka have both risen five spots to 15th and 16th, respectively.
Fast bowlers Jofra Archer of England (up six places to joint-38th), M. Prasidh Krishna of India (up two places to 53rd), and Shoriful Islam of Bangladesh (up 17 places to 57th) have all made notable progress, as have spinners Nathan Lyon of Australia (up two places to 10th) and Ali Usman of Pakistan (up 30 places to 67th).
Harry Brook has doubled his lead at the top of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, surpassing teammate Joe Root by 24 rating points. With scores of 39 and 66, India’s wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant returned to the top 10 for the first time in a year, moving up six spots to eighth, while Brook struck 90 and Root scored 66 to maintain the top two spots.
Other players to do well in the batting rankings include Australia’s Cameron Green (up nine spots to 21st), Sri Lanka’s Dhananjaya de Silva (up two spots to 22nd), Sonal Dinusha (up 49 spots to 54th), Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique (up seven spots to joint-27th), India’s K.L. Rahul (up five spots to 30th), and Devdutt Padikkal (re-entered at 59th).
