Lions and Tigers hunt rankings bump

Sri Lanka get a chance to overtake Pakistan on the ICC Test Team Rankings table during an upcoming two-match series in the United Arab Emirates starting on Thursday.

Meanwhile South Africa could slip from second to third position if they lose their two-Test home series against Bangladesh starting the same day.

Sri Lanka will leapfrog Pakistan to sixth position with even a 1-0 win in the series while Pakistan could gain four points and reach 97 points with a 2-0 series win, the same as New Zealand and Australia, but will be behind on decimal points and remain in sixth position.

Pakistan v Sri Lanka series scenarios:

Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 2-0 – Pakistan 97 points, Sri Lanka 86 points
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka 1-0 – Pakistan 95 points, Sri Lanka 87 points
Series drawn 1-1 or 0-0 – Pakistan 92 points, Sri Lanka 90 points
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan 1-0 – Sri Lanka 93 points, Pakistan 89 points
Sri Lanka beat Pakistan 2-0 – Sri Lanka 94 points, Pakistan 88 points

The Test team rankings, unlike the ODI and T20I rankings, are updated after the end of the series.

In the ICC Test Player Rankings, Pakistan boast Azhar Ali at number seven among batsmen while captain Sarfraz Ahmed will start his first series as Test captain at 27th position.

Among their bowlers, leg-spinner Yasir Shah returns from injury as the team’s leading bowler at 15th rank while pace bowler Wahab Riaz is the next on the rankings table in 25th position.

For Sri Lanka, Kusal Mendis (24th) and Dinesh Chandimal (33rd) are the leading batsmen according to the rankings while left-arm spinner Rangana Herath (fourth), Dilruwan Perera (27th) and Nuwan Pradeep (34th) are the lead bowlers.

In South Africa, even a drawn series will help Bangladesh overtake the Windies to eighth position on the points table since only one point separates these two sides.

On the other hand, South Africa have the danger of slipping behind England with even a 1-0 loss.

South Africa v Bangladesh series scenarios:

South Africa beat Bangladesh 2-0 – South Africa 111 points, Bangladesh 72 points
South Africa beat Bangladesh 1-0 – South Africa 109 points, Bangladesh 74 points
Series drawn 1-1 or 0-0 – South Africa 106 points, Bangladesh 78 points
Bangladesh beat South Africa 1-0 – Bangladesh 83 points, South Africa 103 points
Bangladesh beat South Africa 2-0 – Bangladesh 85 points, South Africa 102 points

In the individual rankings, South Africa have batsmen Hashim Amla (eighth), Quinton de Kock (12th), Dean Elgar (16th) and captain Faf du Plessis (joint-18th) in the top 20 while pace bowlers Kagiso Rabada (sixth), Morne Morkel (14th) and Keshav Maharaj (23rd) are the top bowlers.

Left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal is the leading Bangladesh batsman at 15th position while captain Mushfiqur Rahim is ranked 23rd. In the absence of world’s top all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan, who has taken a sabbatical from Test cricket, off-spinner Mehedi Hasan is the leading bowler in 29th position with Taijul Islam in 32nd place.
In South Africa, even a drawn series will help Bangladesh overtake the Windies to eighth position on the points table.

In South Africa, even a drawn series will help Bangladesh overtake the Windies to eighth position on the points table.

Series schedule:

Pakistan v Sri Lanka:

28 September – 2 October – 1st Test, Abu Dhabi

6-10 October – 2nd Test (day-night), Dubai

South Africa v Bangladesh:

28 September – 2 October – 1st Test, Potchefstroom

6-10 October – 2nd Test, Blomfontein

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 26 September 2017, before the South Africa v Bangladesh and Pakistan v Sri Lanka series)

Rank   Team              Points

1        India                 125

2        South Africa      110

3        England             105

4        New Zealand      97

5        Australia             97

6        Pakistan             93

7        Sri Lanka           90

8        West Indies       75

9        Bangladesh       74

10         Zimbabwe         00

(Developed by David Kendix)

For more information on player rankings, please click here.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 26 September, before the South Africa v Bangladesh and Pakistan v Sri Lanka series):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank   Player               Team      Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

1       Steve Smith      Aus      936      59.66   941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2       Joe Root          Eng      889      53.76   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3       K. Williamson    NZ        880      51.16   893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4       C. Pujara           Ind        876      52.65   888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

5       David Warner    Aus      807      47.94   880 v NZ at Perth 2015

6       Virat Kohli         Ind        806      49.55   895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

7       Azhar Ali           Pak      769      46.86   787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

8       Hashim Amla     SA        764      49.00   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

9       Lokesh Rahul    Ind        761*!    46.27   761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

10       A. Rahane         Ind        760       47.61   825 v NZ at Indore 2016

Other selected rankings

Rank   Player                Team     Pts       Avge    Highest Rating

12        Q. de Kock       SA        729*     44.64   802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

15        Tamim Iqbal      Ban      679       39.65   709 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

16        Dean Elgar        SA        674       38.86   740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

18=      S. Al Hasan       Ban      668       40.38   694 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

Faf du Plessis   SA        668       43.28   710 v Win at Port Elizabeth 2014

22        A. Mathews       SL        659       44.93   877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

23        M. Rahim          Ban      658!     35.65   658 v Aus at Chittagong 2017

24        Kusal Mendis    SL        650       35.46   692 v Aus at Galle 2016

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank    Player              Team      Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

1       J. Anderson      Eng      896!     27.39   896 v Win at Lord’s 2017

2       R. Jadeja          Ind        884       23.60   899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

3       R. Ashwin         Ind        852       25.26   904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

4       R. Herath          SL        809      28.25   867 v Zim at Harare 2016

5       J. Hazlewood    Aus      794      25.75   863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

6       K. Rabada        SA        785*     24.56   821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

7       Dale Steyn        SA        763       22.30   909 v Win at Centurion 2014

8       Nathan Lyon      Aus      752 !    31.83   752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

9       V. Philander      SA        751       22.45   912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10       Neil Wagner      NZ        745       28.90   767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

Other selected rankings

Rank   Player               Team     Pts      Avge    Highest Rating

14       Morne Morkel    SA        713      29.01    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

15       Yasir Shah        Pak      698      29.91    878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

17       S. Al Hasan       Ban      682      32.35    705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

23       K. Maharaj        SA        565*     27.65    576 v Eng at The Oval 2017

25       Wahab Riaz       Pak      558*     34.35    579 v Aus at Sydney 2017

27       D. Perera          SL        540*     33.39    674 v Zim at Harare 2016

34       N. Pradeep       SL        478*     42.98    501 v Ind at Galle 2017

35       Rahat Ali           Pak      472*     37.43    499 v NZ at Christchurch 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    Player              Team      Pts      Highest Rating

1       S. Al Hasan       Ban      456      489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

2       R. Jadeja          Ind        430      438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

3       R. Ashwin         Ind        422      493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

4       Ben Stokes       Eng      396/*!   396 v Win at Lord’s 2017

5       Moeen Ali         Eng      378      409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

! indicates career-highest rating

Latest