South Africa’s AB de Villiers has achieved a career-best second position on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, while a seven-wicket victory in the Abu Dhabi Test has guaranteed Pakistan a fourth position on the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings.
De Villiers, who scored 19 and 90, earned three ratings points which were enough to put him ahead of Shivnarine Chanderpul of the West Indies. The South Africa batsman now trails team-mate Hashim Amla, who also gained five ratings points after scoring 118 runs in the first innings, by 15 ratings points.
Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq has also achieved his career-best rankings. The 39-year-old batsman was rewarded for his 100 and 28 not out with a jump of five places that has put him in seventh position, just one place and seven ratings points behind Younus Khan.
Asad Shafiq and man of the match Khurram Manzoor have also made upward movements.
Asad has gained nine places and is now in 25th position while Khurram’s Test best score of 146 has given him a leap of 45 places and 52nd position in the latest rankings that were released on Friday morning.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, there is no change in the top 10 but Vernon Philander has become the 21st bowler and third from South Africa after Shaun Pollock (909) and Dale Steyn (908) to reach the 900-point mark. Philander took five wickets in the Test and given that he is still in the qualification period for bowlers*, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder depending on how he performs in the second Test in Dubai, which starts on Wednesday 23 October.
Philander has so far taken 94 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 17.33 and now trails number-one ranked Steyn by three ratings points.
Pakistan’s fast bowler Junaid Khan has also moved in the right direction. The left-armer had figures of one for 52 and three for 57, for which he has been rewarded with a jump of 10 places and puts him just outside the top 20 in 22nd spot.
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders, double failure by Jacques Kallis has meant he has returned the number-one spot to Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s seven wickets victory means it will finish fourth in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings, irrespective of how the Dubai Test pans out.
If the series ends in a 1-1 draw, South Africa will finish on 131 points (drop by four) and Pakistan will end on 102 (up by five) and one point ahead of the Australia. If Pakistan wins the Dubai Test, then South Africa will slip to 125 ratings points – nine points ahead of England and India – while Pakistan will end up on 108 ratings points – seven points ahead of Australia.
The Test Rankings table, unlike the ODI Rankings table, is updated only after the conclusion of the series. To find out exactly how forthcoming Test series will affect the Rankings table, please click here.
Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 18 October, after the first Test between Pakistan and South Africa in Abu Dhabi)
Batsmen
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 907! 52.32 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
2 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 882! 50.57 882 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 (-1) S.Chanderpaul WI 880 51.81 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 ( – ) K. Sangakkara SL 866 56.98 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
5 ( – ) Michael Clarke Aus 853 52.08 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
6 ( – ) Younus Khan Pak 790 51.59 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
7 (+5) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 783! 46.06 783 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
8 (-1) C. Pujara Ind 777*! 65.55 777 v Aus at Delhi 2013
9 ( – ) Ian Bell Eng 748 46.66 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
10 ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 737 47.85 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
12 (-4) Jacques Kallis SA 719 55.64 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
15 ( – ) Graeme Smith SA 682 48.35 843 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
21 (-5) Azhar Ali Pak 636 39.28 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
25 (+9) Asad Shafiq Pak 607* 37.18 680 v SA at Cape Town 2013
37 (-8) Alviro Petersen SA 562 37.41 655 v NZ at Cape Town 2013
45 (-14) Faf du Plessis SA 513* 56.80 585 v Pak at Cape Town 2013
52 (+45) K. Manzoor Pak 467*! 35.11 467 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
58 ( – ) JP Duminy SA 447* 36.78 466 v Aus at Brisbane 2012
78 (+2) Adnan Akmal Pak 376* 27.61 377 v Zim at Harare 2013
79 (NEW) Shan Masood Pak 375*! 37.50 375 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
Bowlers
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
1 ( – ) Dale Steyn SA 904 22.67 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 901*! 17.23 901 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
3 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 831 29.52 838 v NZ at Colombo (PSS) 2012
4 ( – ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 825 26.60 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
5 ( – ) Ryan Harris Aus 782*! 22.26 782 v Eng at The Oval 2013
6 ( – ) Graeme Swann Eng 760 28.55 858 v Pak at Lord’s 2010
( – ) Peter Siddle Aus 760 29.11 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
8 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 757*! 28.53 757 v Aus at Delhi 2013
9 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 741 30.10 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
10 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 740 30.58 783 v WI at Lord’s 2012
Selected Rankings
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Ave HS Rating
11 (+1) Morne Morkel SA 711 30.07 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
22 (+10) Junaid Khan Pak 554*! 26.69 554 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
34 ( – ) Jacques Kallis SA 482 32.58 742 v Eng at Headingley 2003
77 (-13) Robin Peterson SA 223* 36.48 335 v NZ at Port Elizabeth 2013
89 (+4) JP Duminy SA 174* 41.28 302 v Eng at Johannesburg 2010
93= (NEW) Zulfiqar Babar Pak 158*! 28.00 158 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
96 (+26) M Irfan Pak 154*! 41.00 154 v SA at Abu Dhabi 2013
All-rounders
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts HS Rating
1 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 349 404 v Pak at Mirpur 2011
2 (-1) Jacques Kallis SA 347 616 v Pak at Durban 2002
3 ( – ) R. Ashwin Ind 321*/* 333 v Aus at Hyderabad 2013
4 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 293*/* 312 v Pak at Centurion 2013
5 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 288 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
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