Pujara achieves career-high third spot in Test Rankings

Cheteshwar Pujara, India's batting mainstay in Test cricket, has surged to a career-high third position in the ICC Rankings after scoring back to back centuries against Sri Lanka in the ongoing three-match series.

Pujara, who scored 153 runs in the opening Test at Galle, followed it up with 133 at the SSC in the second game which India won by an innings and 53 runs and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a 132 in the Colombo Test, also made notable movement in rankings as he moved from 11th to fifth position in the list of batters.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja's knock of 70 not out and seven wickets saw him edge out Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan to take the top position among all-rounders for the first time.

Jadeja, who is the top-ranked Test bowler, has also gained nine places to reach 51st rank among batsmen while India's wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has attained a career-best 44th position after moving up four places.

Pace bowlers Mohammad Shami (up three places to 20th) and Umesh Yadav (up three places to 22nd) have made notable gains.

For Sri Lanka, Kusal Mendis has moved up 10 places to 19th position after scores of 24 and 110 in the Colombo Test while opener Dimuth Karunaratne has gained 13 slots to reach 24th rank after scores of 25 and 141. Niroshan Dickwella has moved up 21 slots to a career-best 68th position.

On the other hand, England all-rounder Moeen Ali finished the series against South Africa with career-best rankings as a batsman, bowler and all-rounder after another stellar show in the fourth and final Test which his side won by 177 runs on Monday to clinch the four-match series 3-1.

Ali's scores of 14 and 75 not out have helped him move up three positions back to a career-best 21st position among batsmen in the latest Test Rankings while his seven wickets in the match have enabled him to retain a career-best ranking of 18th among bowlers and fourth in the table for all-rounders, in which he has crossed 400 points for the first time.

His team-mates Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson too have made significant progress. Bairstow's knocks of 99 and 10 have helped him reach a career-best rank of seventh while Anderson's seven wickets have helped him overtake India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to take second place among bowlers.

For South Africa, Hashim Amla's knocks of 30 and 83 have helped him move up one slot to ninth position while pace bowler Duanne Olivier's five wickets in the match have taken him up 27 slots up to a career-best 51st position.