Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retained his top spot as a Test bowler in the ICC Test Rankings for bowlers in men’s cricket, despite missing out on the ICC World Test Championship against Australia at The Oval, informed ICC on Wednesday. Ashwin finished as India’s leading wicket-taker and overall third-highest wicket-taker behind South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (67 wickets) and Australian spinner Nathan Lyon (88 wickets) in WTC 2021-23 cycle. He took 61 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 19.67 and an economy rate of 2.48. His best bowling figures are 6/91. Rohit Sharma (729 points) and Virat Kohli (700 points) sit in 12th and 13th respectively after the match among the batters. Rohit scored 15 and 43 in the ‘Ultimate Test’ at The Oval. Virat also scored 14 and 49 in the title clash against the Aussies. In WTC 2021-23 cycle, Rohit scored 758 runs in 11 matches at an average of 42.11. He scored two centuries and two fifties in 19 innings, with the best score of 127. The skipper missed out on some matches due to injury. On the other hand, Virat posted decent numbers but could not live up to his ‘King Kohli’ tag in this cycle.
In 17 matches, he scored 932 runs at an average of 32.13. In 30 innings, he scored only one century and three fifties, with the best score of 186. Shardul Thakur, showing his qualities with ball and bat during the Test with a half-century and two wickets, moving up three spots to 31st among all-rounders. Travis Head’s stunning first innings century in the World Test Championship Final has pushed the left-hander well up the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings. He won the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the final. Scoring 163 across the first two days of the World Test Championship Final against India at The Oval, Head jumped three places, joining Marnus Labuschagne (1st) and Steve Smith (2nd) in the top three with a rating of 884. Usman Khawaja (9th, 777 rating points) makes it four Australians in the top 10. The last time three batters from the same side occupied the top three positions in the Test rankings was in December 1984 when Gordon Greenidge (810), Clive Lloyd (787), and Larry Gomes (773) from West Indies formed the top trio. Smith and Head were the third and fourth highest-scorer for Australia in the WTC 2021-23 cycle behind Marnus Labuschagne (1,576 runs in 20 matches at an average of 52.53, with five centuries and five fifties) and Usman Khawaja (1,621 runs in 17 matches at an average of 64.84, with six tons and seven fifties). In 20 matches, Smith scored 1,407 runs at an average of 52.11. He scored four centuries and six fifties in the cycle, with the best score of 200*.