For the past couple of months we are seeing nothing but the shorter format of the game, the IPL gave us exciting matches but we definitely missed the calm and underlying thrill of test cricket. ICC Releases Latest Test Rankings
On Tuesday ICC released a fresh Test Ranking and there are a few things that caught our eye. Let’s discuss them:
Australians Keep Dominating the Batting Arena
It has been a long time since we saw anyone else at the number one position than Marnus Labuschagne. The man’s passion to play test cricket has influenced his performance as he now plays a major role in formulating Australia’s innings in Test Cricket. The leader of the table is currently playing County Cricket to polish his game for the series against Sri Lanka. He is followed by his favorite, Steve Smith who may have missed a couple hundred in the previous tour but his excellence in the game reflects in the ranking. They are followed by New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Ex-England Leader Joe Root who are at 3rd and 4th position followed by Pakistan captain Babar Azam at 5th.
India’s batting maestros Virat Kohli (10) and Rohit Sharma (8) have maintained their position in the top 10 but we have barely seen any of them performing at their best form in quite some time. The Indians fans will hope that their favorite batters will make a great comeback when they tour England next for the lone Test.
Will there be any bowler to replace Pat Cummins from the top?
We are aware of Pat Cummins excelling in his career in the year 2021. He showed great leadership skills and character and probably has been the only most consistent bowler for Australia for some time. This ‘some time’ is almost more than 3 years since anyone has been able to replace the boy from the top spot. The players below him have changed ever since but with his consistency and discipline, he has maintained being the top test bowler in the world. He is followed by India’s Ravi Chandra Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah at positions 2 and 3.
It is to be noticed that Ashwin is the only spinner in the top 5. Of all 5 bowlers. 4 of them are fast bowlers. Cummins, Bumrah, Shaheen Afridi, and Kyle Jamieson are among the fastest bowlers. Much credit to Ashwin for standing out and making way for spinners in the list dominated by pacers.
Indians overpower all-round performers
We are well aware of the records that were broken by Jadeja in the last series he played against Sri Lanka. The man was in godly form and he ensured that he grabs the limelight from across the world. Hitting 175 and taking a 5-wickets-haul in the same innings is something out of storybooks but Jadeja did it and that led him to the top spot in the Test Allrounder Ranking. He is followed by his brother, R Ashwin, who also holds the second position in the Bowler’s tally. They are followed by West Indies’ Jason Holder, Bangladesh legend Shakib Al Hasan and England’s new captain Ben Stokes at positions 3, 4, and 5.
The rankings are reflective of a team’s strengths and weaknesses and we can notice that since Australia has players performing in both batting and bowling departments, it reflects in the overall team ranking as they are at the top of that as well. As for India, for quite some time it is the bowlers and allrounders, who must be credited for the team’s success. For the team to steer ahead to the top, there must be better performance with the bat as well.
