Lyon cracks top ten for the first time

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has moved up to take a career-best eighth position in the  ICC Test Player Rankings after a match-winning performance in Chittagong that helped his side win by seven wickets and draw the two-Test series against Bangladesh.

Lyon’s career-best haul of 13 for 154, the best ever performance by an Australia bowler in Asia, translated into huge gains as he has moved up nine positions to break into the top 10 for the first time. His previous best place was 12th in May last year while his highest in terms of rating points was 696 in February last year, 52 less than his present 752 points.

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Lyon was named player of the match and with 22 wickets in the series, shared the player of the series award with opener David Warner, who has moved up one place to fifth position after scores of 123 and eight in Chittagong.

Warner had added a crucial 152 runs for the third wicket with Peter Handscomb in the first innings and his middle-order partner too has made significant gains, moving up 15 slots to a career-best 24th place.

The other Australia players to gain in the latest rankings include hard-hitting batsman Glen Maxwell (up 16 positions to 88th) and left-arm spinner Ashton Agar (up seven places to 77th).

For Bangladesh, captain Mushfiqur Rahim has gained one place to reach 22nd position, one place lower than his career best but to a career-best 658 rating points, while middle-order batsman Sabbir Rahman has gained 22 slots to reach 73rd position after scores of 66 and 24.

Spinner Mehedi Hassan has gained one slot to reach 29th position after his first-innings haul of three wickets while pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman’s five wickets in the match have seen him gain 12 slots to reach 43rd position.

Meanwhile, Australia has slipped one place to take fifth position in the ICC Test Team Rankings following the drawn series.

Australia started the series at 100 points but is now on 97 points, the same as New Zealand but behind on decimal points. Bangladesh has gained five points to reach 74 points but remains in ninth position.

ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 8 September, after the second and final Test between Bangladesh and Australia in Chittagong):

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      902      54.30   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       ( 1)      David Warner    Aus      807      47.94   880 v NZ at Perth 2015

6       (-1)       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       ( – )       Alastair Cook    Eng      765      46.59   874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

9       ( – )       Hashim Amla     SA        764      49.00   907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

10       ( – )       Lokesh Rahul    Ind        761*!    46.27   761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

Other selected rankings

Rank     ( /-)      Player              Team     Pts       Avge    Highest Rating

22         ( 1)      M. Rahim          Ban      658!     35.65   658 v Aus at Chittagong 2017

24=       ( 15)     P. Handscomb  Aus      643*!    53.07   643 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

73=       ( 22)     S. Rahman        Ban      399*!    31.57   399 v Aus at Chittagong 2017

88=       ( 16)     Glenn Maxwell   Aus      358*!    26.07   358 v Ban at Chittagong 2017.

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank    ( /-)      Player              Team      Pts      Avge     Highest Rating

1       ( – )       R. Jadeja          Ind        884      23.60    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

2       ( – )       J. Anderson      Eng      868      27.74    884 v SL at Durham 2016

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       ( 9)      Nathan Lyon      Aus      752!     31.83    752 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

9       (-1)       V.Philander       SA        751      22.45    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10       (-1)       Stuart Broad     Eng      747      28.81    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

Other selected rankings

  Rank   ( /-)      Player              Team      Pts      Avge    Highest Rating

29       ( 1)      Mehedi Hasan   Ban      522*!    31.34   522 v Aus at Chittagong 2017

43       ( 12)     M. Rahman       Ban      390*!    23.47   390 v Aus at Chittagong 2017

77       ( 7)      Ashton Agar      Aus      213*!    45.55   213 v Ban at Chittagong 2017

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       ( – )       Moeen Ali         Eng      392      409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

5       ( – )       Ben Stokes       Eng      360/*    362 v SA at The Oval 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

 

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