Ashwin closes in on Cummins at the top of Test bowlers' rankings
Gudakesh Motie, the star of West Indies' win in the second Test in Zimbabwe, rises 77 places in the bowlers' rankings
ESPNcricinfo staff
15-Feb-2023
R Ashwin holds the ball aloft after picking another five-wicket haul • BCCI
ESPNcricinfo had published a news article on the morning of February 15 that India had become the No. 1 team in the ICC Test cricket rankings. The article was based on an update, which turned out to be a glitch, on the ICC's website. Australia are still the No. 1 Test team in the world. The article below has been updated to reflect the facts as they are.
R Ashwin moved to within 21 rating points of Pat Cummins at the top of the ICC Test bowlers' rankings following his five-wicket haul in the second innings of the Nagpur Test between India and Australia. Ashwin is currently second on that table, while Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up a five-for in the first innings of the Test, is at No. 16.
The two spinners played key roles in India's three-day win over Australia, by an innings and 132 runs. After Australia batted first, Jadeja led the way with 5 for 47 as the visitors were bowled out for 177. India then put up 400, with Rohit Sharma hitting a century and Jadeja and Axar Patel scoring half-centuries, before Ashwin came into his own on the third day, running through the opposition with returns of 5 for 37, with Jadeja returning 2 for 34.
Rohit's 120, by far the most impressive batting effort on a tricky pitch, helped him move up from No. 10 to No. 8 on the batters' table.
David Warner and Usman Khawaja, the Australia openers, however, had a torrid time of it, scoring 1 and 10, and 1 and 5 respectively. As a result, Warner fell six spots to 20th and Khawaja went down two spots to tenth.
Axar didn't have much success with the ball in Nagpur, picking up just the solitary wicket in 13 overs across the two innings, but his 84, at a crucial time in the game, helped him move up in the allrounders' rankings, up to seventh, a rise of six places.
Gudakesh Motie soars after 13-wicket match haul
The other Test series on in the past week featured Zimbabwe and West Indies, who drew their first game in Bulawayo before West Indies won inside three days in the second, also in Bulawayo. Gudakesh Motie was the star of the show, picking up 19 wickets in the two Tests, including 13 in the second, and that took him up 77 places to 46th place after playing just three Tests.
In the first Test, Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul, the West Indies openers, put up a 336-run stand, with Brathwaite scoring 182 and Chanderpaul an unbeaten 207. It was the highest opening stand for West Indies in Tests, and the performance took Brathwaite up four spots to 21st and Chanderpaul up 28 spots to 58th.