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Cape Town - Kane Williamson of New Zealand and Australia’s David Warner have No 1-ranked AB de Villiers firmly within their sights after achieving career-best rankings in the latest ICC Test player rankings, released following the conclusion of the Bangalore and Perth Tests.
Williamson has jumped three places to join Australia captain Steven Smith in second spot following scores of 166 and 32 not out, while Warner’s 253 and 24 have lifted him three places to fifth.
The top five batsmen, four of whom are likely to feature in the third Tests in Nagpur and Adelaide later this month, are now separated by just 19 points with Smith and Williamson trailing De Villiers by six points and Warner another 13 points behind. This means that the battle for the coveted No 1-position, post the conclusion of the two series, remains tight as there will be a further reshuffle at the top of the order depending on how these batsmen perform.
Ross Taylor, who won the player of the match award at the WACA, has returned to the top 10 for the first time in 12 months. Taylor scored 290 and 36 not out, for which he has been rewarded with a jump of seven places that has put him in 10th spot.
Outside the top 20, there were movements for Adam Voges, Shikhar Dhawan and Usman Khawaja. Voges and Khawaja, who also scored centuries in Perth, have achieved career-best rankings to date by moving to 32nd and 47th positions, respectively, while Dhawan has gained five positions and is now in 33rd spot.
In the bowling chart, India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has achieved a career-best ranking. Jadeja returned figures of 16-2-50-4 in a rain-affected Test, which has lifted him eight places to 13th in the latest rankings. Jadeja is now the third India bowler to feature inside the top 20 after Ravichandran Ashwin (fifth) and Ishant Sharma (20th).
New Zealand’s Doug Bracewell is the other bowler who has improved his ranking. The right-arm fast bowler took three wickets in the Perth Test and has now moved up six places to 41st.
South Africa’s Dale Steyn has retained his No 1 position but has fallen from the 900-point mark for the first time since December 2013 after missing the Bangalore Test against India. He is now on 893 points, still 47 points clear of his nearest rival James Anderson of England.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has signed off on his international cricket on a high.
The left-arm fast bowler, who won the ICC Cricketer of the Year awards in 2009 and 2014, has finished in ninth bowling position, 84th batting spot and fifth in all-rounders’ category. March 2009 saw him rise to his career-best bowling, batting and all-rounders’ rankings of second, 44th and second, respectively.
In One-Day Internationals, Johnson, who won the ICC Champions Trophy 2006 as well as the 2015 Cricket World Cup with Australia, peaked at No 2 in April 2009, while his highest ranking of fourth in Twenty20 Internationals was in May 2010.
Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh continues to lead the all-rounders’ field and while South Africa’s Vernon Philander has dropped to fourth after missing the Bangalore Test, Jadeja has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in 10th position.
The ICC Test Player Rankings will again be updated following the conclusion of Nagpur and Adelaide Tests.
