Rohit Sharma reaches career-best ranking after twin centuries

India batsman Rohit Sharma, who became the first player to score a century in each innings of his maiden Test as opener, has reached a career-best 17th position in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings.

Sharma, who slammed three previous centuries in Tests, has gained a whopping 36 slots after his knocks of 176 and 127 in the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam helped India win by 203 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

Other opener Mayank Agarwal has also attained a career-best 25th position after his first innings double-century lifted him 38 places. Captain Virat Kohli has dropped below the 900-point mark for the first time since January 2018. He is now on 899 points, 38 behind top-ranked Steve Smith.

Among the bowlers, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made a comeback to the top 10 after his match haul of eight wickets, which included figures of seven for 145 in the first innings. The formerly top-ranked bowler has moved up four places from 14th position and also into the top five among all-rounders.

Fast bowler Mohammad Shami has reached a career-best 710 points that took him from 18th to 16th, two below his career-best 14th rank, while Ravindra Jadeja has leapfrogged Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan to take second position among all-rounders.

For South Africa, centurions Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar have progressed. De Kock is back into the top 10 after gaining four places and moving to seventh while Elgar has moved five places and is in 14th position.

ICC

ICC