New highs for Shami and Agarwal in Test rankings

India fast bowler Mohammed Shami and opening batsman Mayank Agarwal have reached career-best positions in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after contributing in an innings and 130-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Test in Indore.

Shami’s bowling figures of three for 27 and four for 31 have lifted him eight places to seventh position. His 790 rating points are the third best for an India pace bowler with only Kapil Dev (877) and Jasprit Bumrah (832) having recorded more points.

Agarwal has reached 11th position after his player of the match effort of 243 in India’s only innings. The 28-year-old has reached 691 rating points after scoring 858 runs in his first eight Tests. Only seven players have scored more runs than him in their first eight Tests – Don Bradman (1210), Everton Weekes (968), Sunil Gavaskar (938), Mark Taylor (906), George Headley (904), Frank Worrell (890) and Herbert Sutcliffe (872).

In other significant movements for India after they secured a 1-0 lead in the two-Test series, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has advanced four slots to reach joint-35th position among batsmen while fast bowlers Ishant Sharma (20th) and Umesh Yadav (22nd) have moved up one slot each. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin remains among the top 10 bowlers while moving back to fourth position among all-rounders.

For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim’s knocks of 43 and 64 have helped him gain five places and reach 30th position while Liton Das has moved up from 92nd to 86th position. Among bowlers, fast bowler Abu Jayed, who took four wickets in Indore, has advanced 18 slots to take 62nd position after only six Tests.

Meanwhile, India strengthened their position in the ICC World Test Championship standings by reaching 300 points. They are yet to concede a point, having gained a full 120 points each in their three-Test home series against South Africa and two-Test series in the West Indies.

Each Test of the ongoing two-match series is worth 60 points since the 120 points up for grab in a series are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand are on 60 points each after drawing their two-match series 1-1 while England and Australia are on 56 each after their five-match Ashes series ended 2-2. The West Indies and South Africa failed to get any points in their opening series.

Pakistan will play their first WTC series against Australia starting later this week. The first match of the two-Test series starts in Brisbane on Thursday while the second Test, a day-night fixture, will be played in Adelaide from 29 November.

The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.

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