Rahane, Shardul rise in ICC Test rankings; Ashwin maintains top spot among bowlers

India’s Ajinkya Rahane, right, reacts to India’s Shardul Thakur after scoring 50 runs on the third day of the ICC World Test Championship Final between India and Australia at The Oval cricket ground in London on June 9, 2023. File
| Photo Credit: AP

India’s comeback man Ajinkya Rahane on June 14 climbed to the 37th position while Shardul Thakur rose to 94th among batters, even as Ravichandran Ashwin maintained his top spot among Test bowlers despite not featuring in the World Test Championship final.

In a rare achievement, batters from Australia occupy the top three places in the rankings as Steve Smith and Travis Head joined top-ranked Marnus Labuschagne following their centuries in the WTC final win against India at The Oval.

Despite India’s 209-run loss in the marquee match, Rahane’s scores of 89 and 46 helped him return to the rankings chart in 37th position while Shardul, who scored a half-century in the first innings, moved up six places.

OPINION | The second-best: on India and the World Test Championship final

Dashing wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant, who is recovering following a car accident, remains the highest-ranked Indian at number 10 while skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are static on 12th and 13th spots respectively.

Veteran off-spinner Ashwin continued to be the top-ranked Test bowler, despite not being a part of the Indian playing XI, while fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja held on to his ninth spot.

However, the injured Jasprit Bumrah, who last played a Test match in July 2022, has dropped two spots to eighth.

Labuschagne, Smith, Head occupy top three spots

Labuschagne continues to hold on to his number-one position with 903 rating points while Smith has advanced one place to second position after scores of 121 and 34.

The other centurion of the WTC final, Head’s scores of 163 and 18 have lifted him three places to a career-best third position.

The race for the second spot though is very close as Smith is on 885 rating points, Head on 884 and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson on 883.

Batters from the same side taking the top three places is a rare occurrence. The last time this happened in the Test batting rankings was in 1984, when West Indies players Gordon Greenidge (810 rating points), Clive Lloyd (787) and Larry Gomes (773) were at the top of the list.

Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey has also progressed 11 places to 36th after scoring 48 and 66 not out while spinner Nathan Lyon (up two places to sixth) and Scott Boland (up five places to 36th) have also moved up after finishing with five wickets each in the match.