Double ton Younis gets top five place back

Pakistan’s Younis Khan returned to the top five of the ICC rankings for Test Batsmen after belting his sixth career double-century which helped his side to record an impressive 10-wicket victory over England in the fourth and final Test of the series at The Oval.

Younis, who shared 11th position with India’s Ajinkya Rahane going into the final Test, slammed a fine 218 in the first innings to shoot up to fifth in the latest batting table, which is led by Australia captain Steve Smith.

Younis had started the series in fifth position but had dropped out of the top 10 following the third Test at Edgbaston when he slipped from ninth position.

Rahane also made an upward movement after an impressive performance against the West Indies in the Gros Islet Test. Rahane moved up three places to a career-best eighth rank after innings of 35 and 78 not out in India’s 237-run victory over the West Indies which gave the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series.

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor’s unbeaten knocks of 124 and 67 against Zimbabwe saw him gain five places to reach ninth rank after his team won the second Test at Bulawayo by 254 runs to clinch the two-match series 2-0.

England’s Moeen Ali gained six places to move to 26th position, while his compatriot Jonny Bairstow (14th) and the Pakistan duo of Asad Shafiq (15th) and Azhar Ali (17th) also gained one place each.

West Indian batsmen Darren Bravo (27th), Kraigg Braithwaite (33rd) and Marlon Samuels (40th) were other batsmen to move in the right direction.

The top 10 of the rankings for Test Bowlers has remained largely unchanged but New Zealand’s Neil Wagner gained one spot to reach 13th, while England pace bowler Chris Woakes gained two spots to reach 18th in a list led by England paceman James Anderson.

Pakistan’s pace bowling pair of Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan, and the West Indies’ Miguel Cummins also made noticeable gains.

Left-armer Wahab gained six slots to reach 27th after grabbing a total of five wickets at The Oval, while Sohail’s six wickets during that Test saw him jump 21 places to 41st rank. Cummins rocketed 59 places to 55th after match figures of nine for 102.

The all-rounders’ rankings are led by India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc broke into the top five for the first time in fifth position after rising two places.

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