Australia’s Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood have moved up to No. 7 and No. 9 respectively in the latest ICC Test Rankings released on Thursday (December 20) after inspiring their side to an impressive victory over India in the second Test played at Perth. Lyon, the 31-year-old right-arm spinner, has been rewarded for his match-winning haul of 8/106 in Australia’s 146-run series-levelling win. He has climbed seven spots, while Hazlewood’s figures of 2/66 and 2/24 in the two innings moved him up two places in the latest rankings.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah, who bagged five wickets in Perth, yet again made a significant move, climbing five places to No. 28. His teammates, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma too climbed up the charts. Shami who registered figures of 6/56 in the Test, despite going wicketless in the first innings, moved up by two slots to No. 21, while Ishant’s five wickets helped him overtake England spinner Moeen Ali to take 26th place among bowlers.
In the batting charts, Virat Kohli extended his lead over New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, who recently became the first New Zealander to make it to 900 points. Australia’s Usman Khawaja, whose gritty knock of 72 in the second innings helped Australia set India a target of 287, moved up one place to No. 12. Tim Paine jumped from No. 55 to No. 46 while Travis Head moved up 17 slots to No. 63 and Aaron Finch up by 17 to No. 72. Among the Indians, Ajinkya Rahane gained three places to No. 15 and Rishabh Pant jumped 11 spots to a career-high No. 48.
Playing his second Test, Hanuma Vihari made significant movement in batting, bowling and all rounder charts. He climbed up to No. 65 in the all-rounders’ list, and now ranks No. 84 (up by 15 places) and 110 (up by 12 places) in the bowling and batting charts respectively.
In the ICC Test Rankings for All-Rounders, players from both sides moved up the ranks with Lyon, who won the Man of the Match award, moving up four places to No. 15, Hazlewood up by four slots to No. 25 and Shami with a leap of five places to No. 35. Bumrah entered the top-100 charts after moving up six slots and now sits at No. 99.
