Anderson topples Jadeja in rankings
England pacer James Anderson on Sunday replaced old foe and Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja as the world’s top ranked bowler in Test cricket.
Anderson’s rise to the top followed his series-winning effort against the West Indies at Lord’s wherein he registered careerbest figures of 7/42 in an innings and also became the first-ever bowler from England to complete 500 dismissals in the longest format of the game.
Interestingly, both Anderson and Jadeja were embroiled in a spat during India’s previous tour of England in 2014.
In what turned out to be an ugly episode that marred the series in which India won a Test at Lord’s after 28 years, the England pacer was alleged to have pushed and abused Jadeja.
Anderson was handed a Level 3 breach of ICC Code of Conduct, following which he claimed that the fear of being monitored by the International Cricket Council (ICC) has thrown out aggression from his game. Jadeja was hit by a Level 2 offence.
Jadeja had ascended to the top spot in the ICC rankings for Test bowlers in March 2017 after a dominant show of spin bowling in an extended home season for India.While Ravichandran Ashwin had remained at the forefront of the Indian bowling attack, it was Jadeja who outshone his compatriot with 25 wickets in four Tests against Australia. In August 2017, Jadeja rose to the top spot of ICC rankings for all-rounders in Tests.
However, Anderson’s recent feats have propelled the 35-yearold to the top after he created history playing at the ‘home of cricket’. He has thus become the oldest bowler since Muttiah Muralitharan in 2009 and oldest fast bowler since Glenn McGrath in 2006 to rise to the top spot.
Meanwhile, Indian batsmen KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane moved up a place each to claim the ninth and the 10th spots in ICC rankings for Test batsmen.