Banned Rabada tops rankings
Dubai: Kagiso Rabada regained his top spot among bowlers crossing the coveted 900-point mark in ratings even as Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin climbed up a couple of notches to be placed fourth in the ICC Test Player Rankings, released on Monday. Rabada was back as No 1 after his ‘Player of the Match’ effort of 11-150 that helped South Africa defeat Australia by six wickets in Port Elizabeth to level their four-match series at 1-1. Rabada is the 23rd bowler to cross 900 points and only the fourth South Africa player to do so after Vernon Philander (highest of 912 points in 2013), Shaun Pollock (909 in 1999) and Dale Steyn (909 in 2014). Despite India not playing a Test match currently, Ashwin gained two places as Josh Hazlewood (from 4th to 5th) and Mitchell Starc (5th to 9th) slipped in the rankings following Australia’s defeat. The other Indian Ravindra Jadeja remained static at third place. In the batsmen’s list, there has been no change with Steve Smith perched at the top while Indian captain Virat Kohli in second position. Cheteshwar Pujara maintained his sixth place in the rankings. South Africa batsman AB de Villiers is another major gainer in the latest rankings update, his scores of 126 not out and 28 helping him move up five slots to reach seventh position in the batsmen’s list led by Australia captain Steve Smith.