Ashwin becomes number-one ranked Test all-rounder

[GrandMasterSaxy]

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin has achieved the number-one position in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders after a stellar performance in the Kolkata Test, which India won by an innings and 51 runs with more than two days to spare. Ashwin scored 124, his second Test century, and recorded match figures of 40-11-98-5. For this performance, he not only improved his batting and bowling rankings but also leapfrogged Shakib Al Hasan and Jacques Kallis into the number-one spot in the all-rounders’ list. Ashwin has earned 81 ratings points and now leads Shakib by 43 ratings points. In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, Ashwin has moved up 18 places to 45th position, while in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, the 27-year-old off-spinner has gained two places and is now sitting in sixth position. Middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma and fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who made their debuts in the Kolkata Test, have made impressive entries into the Reliance ICC Player Rankings. Sharma, who become the 14th India batsman to score a century on debut when he struck 177, has broken into the rankings in 63rd spot in the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, while Shami’s figures of nine for 118 – the most by an India fast bowler on debut – has helped him enter in 53rd place of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers. West Indies off-spinner Shane Shillingford and India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the other bowlers to improve their rankings. Shillingford’s figures of six for 167 has put him inside the top 20 in 17th position for the first time in his career (up by four), while Kumar’s two wickets have helped him move into 87th place (up by 13). The batting chart continues to be headed by AB de Villiers of South Africa, while his team-mate Dale Steyn is the number-one ranked bowler. The player rankings will now be updated at the end of the Mumbai Test, which starts on 14 November. http://www.icc-cricket.com/news/2013/media-releases/75895/ashwin-becomes-number-one-ranked-test-all-rounder