Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant have made significant gains in the latest released ICC rankings for Test batsmen. Shaw lived a dream debut Test series against the West Indies as he aggregated 237 runs at an average of 118.50 across three innings and earned ‘Man of the Series’ award.
With the knocks of 70 and 33* in the second Test at Hyderabad, Shaw finished the series in 60th place. The teenage batting prodigy had entered the rankings in 73rd place after a century (134) on Test debut at Rajkot.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant also continued his upward climb as his swashbuckling innings of 92 saw him gain 23 slots to reach 62nd position. The southpaw had started the series in 111th position and would be extremely satisfied with the considerable improvements in rankings. Pant was also dismissed for 92 in the Test series opener at Rajkot.
While India skipper Virat Kohli remains the number one Test batsmen, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has climbed four places to reach 18th position after his knock of 80 in the first innings of Hyderabad Test.
Among the bowlers, Umesh Yadav has gained four slots to reach 25th position after his Man of the Match performance in the second Test against the Windies. After picking up career-best figures of 6 for 88 in the first innings, Yadav scalped 4 wickets for 45 runs in the second essay to grab his maiden 10-wicket haul in red-ball cricket. With this stellar performance, Umesh became the third Indian pacer to register a 10-fer in Test cricket at home.
For the West Indies, captain Jason Holder has made a noteworthy rise in all departments. His five-wicket haul in India's first innings has lifted him four places to a career-best ninth position among bowlers while his half-century in the first essay saw him gain three slots to reach 53rd position.
Other players from the visiting Windies side to move forward in the rankings include Roston Chase, whose first innings century helped him gain 10 slots and reach 31st position whereas Shai Hope has gained five places to reach 35th position.
The 2-0 series resulted in a gain of one point for Team India while the West Indies have lost one point. Nonetheless, it has made no difference to the overall team rankings.
(With inputs from PTI)
