India’s spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja became the first pair of spinners to jointly hold the No 1 spot in the International Cricket Council’s Test Bowlers rankings, according to a release from ICC on Wednesday.
Jadeja took 6/63 in Australia’s first innings which lifted him to the top spot from second for the first time in his career, while Ashwin also took eight wickets, including 6/41 in Australia’s second innings, to retain his hold on the No 1 spot. Both Jadeja and Ashwin have 892 points, ahead of third-placed Josh Hazlewood of Australia who has 863 points. The last time two bowlers shared the top spot was Dale Steyn and Muttiah Muralidaran in April 2008.
Virat Kohli, however, went down to the third spot in the ICC Test Batsmen rankings after a poor show with the bat in Bengaluru Test where he scored 12 and 15. Cheteshwar Pujara’s gutsy batting lifted him five places to the sixth position while Ajinkya Rahane also moved up two places to the 15th rank.
However, Ashwin lost his No 1 spot on the ICC Test All-Rounders rankings after Shakib Al Hasan overtook him. Bangladesh’s Shakib is currently at 441 points and leads Ashwin by seven points. Steve Smith remains on top of the ICC Test Batsman’s rankings with 936 points, followed by Joe Root at 848 points.
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