Karunaratne in top 10, Smith reclaims 2nd place

DUBAI: Steve Smith, who followed up his twin tons at Edgbaston with a 92 at Lord’s in the second Ashes Test, has reclaimed the No 2 spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen. Jofra Archer, meanwhile, has debuted at No 83 on the bowlers’ ranking.

Smith’s 92 in the second Ashes Test took his runs tally to 378 in three innings at an impressive average of 126. Despite being banned for a year, he is only nine points behind table-topper Virat Kohli, with Smith making up 19 points on the Indian captain after his performance at Lord’s.

Pat Cummins, meanwhile, has strengthened his hold on the ICC Test rankings for bowlers, reaching career-high ranking points.

Several Australians have made noteworthy strides in the batting rankings owing to their performances in the ongoing Ashes series. Travis Head climbed two spots to No 18, while Marnus Labuschagne has jumped 16 spots on the table to be No 82. Their English rivals, notably Ben Stokes (six spots up to No 26), Jonny Bairstow (seven spots up to No 30) and Rory Burns (17 spots up to No 64) have made advances too.

Karunaratne is in the top 10 Test batsmen list for the first time. However, Australia’s top-order players David Warner (down four), Usman Khawaja and Cameron Bancroft (both down five) have lost out.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne, whose brilliant 122 in the first Test helped his team claim a six-wicket win over New Zealand, has broken into the top 10, climbing four spots to No 8, the highest he has been in his seven-year Test career.

Among the bowlers, Archer, who returned with match figures of 5-91 in his debut Test at Lord’s, has broken through in the rankings to 83rd. Jack Leach, who was playing only his sixth Test, climbed eight spots to be No.40. The left-arm spinner, who made his Test debut against New Zealand last year, has already picked up 24 wickets at an average of 24.16.

Cummins is the No 1 Test bowler and No 5 in the all-rounder rankings.

Sri Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya was also impressive in the first Test against New Zealand at Galle and has jumped nine spots ahead to No 36. He claimed six wickets in the Test, which included a five-for in the first innings, where he rattled the Kiwi top order giving his team the early advantage.

Cummins, who is the top wicket-taker in Ashes this year with 13 scalps at 16.30, has also churned out handy performances with the bat and is now No 5 in the ICC Test rankings for all-rounders.

ICC rankings for Test players: Batsmen: 1. Virat Kohli (IND) 922, 2. Steve Smith (AUS) 913, 3. Kane Williamson (NZ) 887, 4. Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) 881, 5. Henry Nicholls (NZ) 770, 6. Aiden Markram (SA) 719, 7. Quinton de Kock (SA) 718, 8. Dimuth Karunaratne (SL) 716, 9. Joe Root (ENG) 710, 10. Francois du Plessis (SA) 702.

Bowlers: Pat Cummins (AUS) 914, 2. Kagiso Rabada (SA) 851, 3. James Anderson (ENG) 823, 4. Vernon Philander (SA) 813, 5. Ravindra Jadeja (IND) 794, 6. Neil Wagner (NZ) 793, 7. Trent Boult (NZ) 785, 8. Mohammad Abbas (PAK) 770, 9. Jason Holder (WI) 770, 10. Ravichandran Ashwin (IND) 763.

All-rounders: 1. Jason Holder (WI) 439, 2. Shakib Al Hasan (BAN) 399, 3. Ravindra Jadeja (IND) 387, 4. Ben Stokes (ENG) 367, 5. Pat Cummins (AUS) 339.