Jadeja pips Ashwin to No 1, Pujara climbs to second in ICC rankings

DUBAI: Ravindra Jadeja has overtaken R Ashwin at the top of the ICC Test rankings for bowlers, after taking nine wickets against Australia in the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Cheteshwar Pujara was also a major gainer as his 202 off 525 balls propelled him above Virat Kohli to become the top-ranked India batsman in Tests. He was at No 2, behind Australia captain Steven Smith.

Although the Ranchi Test was drawn, at the end of the fourth day, the hosts had seemed in quite a dominant position thanks to these two players. Pujara, by facing more balls than any other Indian (where data is available) in Tests, secured a whopping 152-run lead though Australia had put up 451.

It was the third double-century of his career, second against Australia, and it helped him continue a rich vein of form in the 2016-17 home season — 1259 runs at 66.26 with four hundreds and seven fifties.

Jadeja, meanwhile, has outbowled his closest competitor Ashwin in the first innings this season — a sign that he was becoming a threat even without the pitch helping him too much. In all, Jadeja has taken 67 wickets at 22.98 with four five-wicket hauls in 24 innings.