Bumrah, Cummins secure career-high rankings

DUBAI: Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins, who fished nine scalps apiece in the third Australia-India Test at Melbourne, have risen to their career-high rankings in the ICC Test Player Rankings.

Bumrah, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his exceptional figures of 6/83 in India’s 137-run victory at the MCG, moved up 12 places to settle into the 16th spot.

Cummins, who shone with the ball as well as the bat, broken into the top five, claiming the third place.

Trent Boult, who returned nine wickets in New Zealand’s colossal 423-run victory over Sri Lanka at Christchurch, has leapt from 14 to seven and re-entered the top 10.

Duanne Olivier, who was brought into the South Africa XI against Pakistan courtesy injuries to regulars Lungi Ngidi and Vernon Philander, seized the opportunity with both hands. The pacer clinched five-wicket hauls in both the Pakistan innings, amassing 11 wickets in the game. Olivier’s match-winning performance has propelled him past 17 spots at a career-best No.36.

Things remain mostly consistent at the top of the batting rankings though. In fact, Henry Nicholls, the Black Caps wicket-keeper, is the only player to move up in the top ten, as his 162* against Sri Lanka helped him to No.7 – his career-best ranking.

Other significant gainers in the batting chart include Tom Latham at 14 (up by eight places), Quinton de Kock at 25 (up by five places), Babar Azam at 29 (up by nine places), Rishabh Pant at 38 (up by ten places) and Rohit Sharma at 44 (up by 11 places).

Despite his solid performance at the MCG, Ravindra Jadeja has dropped to No.3 on the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings for all-rounders, which means Jason Holder is automatically pushed up to No.2.

Cummins, who played a stunning knock of 63 in the lower order, has made important gains on this front as well, skipping three places to nestle into the seventh spot.