Jasprit Bumrah equals Indian record, Rohit Sharma drops further in latest ICC Test Rankings ahead of BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Ace Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has strengthened his position as the No.1 Test bowler in the latest men’s ICC rankings, released on Wednesday, December 25. The speedster now has 904 rating points, most by an Indian in the format.

Bumrah equaled Ravichandran Ashwin, who previously had the same rating points. The off-spinner, who announced his retirement after the conclusion of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, had achieved the feat in December 2016.

Bumrah rose 14 rating points following his nine wickets against Australia in the third Test in Brisbane. Meanwhile, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Australia’s Josh Hazlewood retained their second and third spots, respectively.

Among batters in the latest ICC Test rankings, Travis Head rose one spot to fourth. The left-hander slammed consecutive tons against India in the second and third Tests to reach 825 points. Meanwhile, Steve Smith re-entered the top 10 list following his 101 against India at the Gabba. India’s opener KL Rahul also jumped 10 rungs to 40th after scoring 84 in the third Test against Australia.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli dropped one place out to the top 20 following his failures in the second and third Tests against the Aussies, scoring 7, 11, and three, respectively. India captain Rohit Sharma also slipped five places to 35th after returning with scores of three, six, and 10 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series so far.

Meanwhile, England’s Joe Root, Harry Brook, and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson consolidated their top three places in the rankings.

As far as the all-rounders are concerned, Australia captain Pat Cummins entered the top 10 by jumping three places to eighth. He picked up four wickets and scored 42 runs in the third Test against India. Head also improved nine places to 29th after returning with a wicket besides scoring 152 in the third Test.

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Heinrich Klassen breaks into top 5 in latest ICC ODI rankings

South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klassen has broken into the top five in the latest men’s ICC ODI rankings for batters. With three half-centuries in a home series against Pakistan, he rose 13 spots to fifth. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Saim Ayub saw a meteoric rise from 70th to joint 23rd after two centuries in the same series as the Men in Green won by a 3-0 margin. He also climbed 113 places to equal 42nd among the list of all-rounders.

Among bowlers, Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai rose 43 rungs to 58th following his six wickets in the ODI series against Zimbabwe. He also improved five spots to occupy the third spot among all-rounders.

In the latest men’s ICC T20I rankings, Bangladesh’s Mehedi Hasan rose 13 places to break into the top 10, while West Indies’ Roston Chase climbed 11 spots to 13th in the bowler’s category following the T20I series between the two teams. Other notable movers were Rishad Hossain (up 21 places to 17th) and Hasan Mahmud (rose 23 rungs to 24th), as the Asians sealed the series by a 3-0 margin.