India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who scored 60 and 64 runs in the recently held third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai, has gained five places to become world No. 6 Test batter in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday (November 6).
Pant is India’s second-highest-ranked batter in Tests after Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, after a flop show in the Mumbai Test, slipped one place to become the No. 4 batter in the longest format of the game.
Besides Pant, Shubman Gill has also made improvement in the batter’s ranking. The right-hander has moved up four spots to become the world No. 16 batter thanks to his 90-run knock in the first inning of Mumbai Test.
However, batting stalwart Virat Kohli finds himself out of the top-20 for the first time since 2014 after his listless display with the bat in the third and final Test of the home series. While Kohli returned with 93 runs at an abysmal average of 15.50 in the three-match series, he registered scores of 4 and 1 across the two innings of Mumbai Test.
Kohli has dropped eight places to attain the No. 22 position, with 655 rating points. India skipper Rohit Sharma occupies the 26th place after losing two spots for his flop show against New Zealand. Rohit finished the series with 91 runs at 15.17 while he scored 18 and 11 in Mumbai Test.
Ravindra Jadeja, who claimed five wickets in both innings of the third Test, has advanced two places to become the world No. 6 Test bowler. Jasprit Bumah is India’s highest-ranked Test bowler, holding the No. 3 position. Ravichandran Ashwin has dropped one place to take the No. 5 slot.
New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel claimed 15 wickets in the three-match series, with 11 of those coming in the final Test at the Wankhede Stadium. As a result, he leapfrogged 12 places to take No. 22 position in the list of Test bowlers.
Proteas speedster Kasgio Rabada continues to lead the bowler’s chart after replacing Bumrah from the pole position last week. Rabada played a key role in South Africa’s recently 2-0 win over Bangladesh in the away Test series. Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood occupies the second place, and Pat Cummins sits in No. 4 position.
Among batters, Joe Root, despite a flop show in the last two Tests against Pakistan, has retained his numero uno position.
