Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 22: In the most recent ICC Men’s Test Rankings, veteran England pacer James Anderson passed Australia skipper Pat Cummins and Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to take the top spot among bowlers.
The evergreen 40-year-old Anderson tops the list after taking seven wickets for England in their convincing 267-run victory over New Zealand last week in Mount Maunganui, breaking Cummins’ four-year reign as the best Test bowler.
The right-arm pacer first reached the summit in May 2016 when he surpassed teammate Stuart Broad and Ashwin to earn top billing in a successful international career that began back in 2003. This is the sixth time Anderson has held the title of the top bowler in the Test rankings.
With 858 rating points, Cummins slides to third but has a chance to move back up the rankings if Australia’s current Test series against India features some standout performances from him. The most recent rankings update didn’t completely exclude Indian players though, as spinner Ravindra Jadeja rose seven positions to tenth on the new list of Test bowlers.
In the most recent Test all-rounder rankings, teammate Axar Patel, who has 158 runs and is currently second in the series’ run-scoring, moves up two spots to sixth overall. There have been significant changes in the rankings over the past week, but the movement at the top of the Test bowling ratings is the highlight.
In the list of Test bats, Tom Blundell (11th) and Devon Conway (17th) both reach new highs for their respective careers, while England’s Ollie Pope (23rd), Harry Brook (31st), and Ben Duckett (38th) also achieve new records.
