Rishabh Pant’s triumphant return to Test cricket was marked by a sensational century, propelling him back into the ICC rankings. The wicketkeeper-batter, who smashed a stunning hundred in the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, secured sixth place with 731 rating points. His resurgence comes as a welcome sight for India, who are also celebrating Yashasvi Jaiswal’s rise to fifth position in the rankings after a half-century in the first innings of the Chennai Test.
However, the good news ends there for India as captain Rohit Sharma and veteran batsman Virat Kohli experienced significant dips in their rankings. Despite retaining his spot in the top 10, Rohit slipped five places to 716 rating points after two underwhelming scores. Kohli suffered a similar fate, dropping five spots to 12th place.
Across the globe, the Sri Lanka-New Zealand Test in Galle saw a shakeup in the bowling rankings, highlighting the prowess of Prabath Jayasuriya. The Sri Lankan spinner further cemented his reputation as one of the game’s best with a nine-wicket haul in the match, propelling him five spots into eighth place in the rankings with 743 rating points. This achievement also saw him become the highest-ranked Sri Lankan across all three disciplines, surpassing Asitha Fernando, who dropped two spots to 13th.
The Galle Test also saw Sri Lankan batsmen Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva make notable strides, moving up three and five spots respectively in the batting and all-rounder rankings.
In the realm of ODI cricket, Rahmanullah Gurbaz of Afghanistan and Australia’s Travis Head made a sensational entry into the top 10 batting rankings. Gurbaz, a rising star, continued his impressive career trajectory, hitting his seventh century in the format before his 23rd birthday. This achievement propelled him 10 spots to eighth position with 692 rating points, becoming the first-ever Afghan batter to achieve this feat.
Head, meanwhile, moved seven spots to ninth position (684) with a remarkable 154 not out in the first ODI against England.
Completing a remarkable week for Afghanistan, leg-spinner Rashid Khan climbed eight spots to third place (668) in the ODI bowling rankings. He secured seven wickets in the team’s two victories over South Africa in the UAE, a crucial contribution to Afghanistan’s historic first ODI series win against a top-five ranked opponent.
