Ashwin regains 2nd spot in ICC Test rankings

Star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin regained the second spot in the bowlers' list while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continued to hold on to the top spot in the latest Test rankings announced by the International Cricket Council (ICC) here on Tuesday.

Ashwin, who is on 849 points, climbed one spot, pushing Sri Lanka captain Rangana Herath to the third position.

India pacer Mohammad Shami has gained one slot to be ranked 23rd.

The latest rankings take into account performances in the first Test at Galle in which India defeated Sri Lanka by 304 runs on Saturday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and the ongoing series between England and South Africa.

England defeated South Africa by 239 runs at The Oval in the Third Test on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Among the batsmen, Indian top-order star Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli have managed to hold on to the fourth and fifth positions respectively thanks to their excellent form in the Galle Test.

Several England players made significant gains with all-rounder Ben Stokes taking career-best positions in both batting and bowling after a fine show in the third Test.

Stokes has moved up 12 places to the joint-25th position in the rankings for batsmen with scores of 112 and 31. He also gained two places to reach the 19th position in the list for bowlers after grabbing figures of 1/26 and 2/51.

His effort also sees him overtake South Africa's Vernon Philander to take the fifth position in the list of all-rounders.

Stokes' compatriot Jonny Bairstow has gained three slots to reach the ninth position among the batsmen while opener Alastair Cook has moved up three places to 12th position.

In the bowlers' rankings, pacer James Anderson has climbed one place to joint third while off-spinner Moeen Ali moved up one place to 18th.

For South Africa, left-handed opener Dean Elgar's innings of eight and 136 have lifted him three places to the 15th position while left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj has gained four slots and attained a career-best 22nd position after his four wickets at The Oval.

Among the Sri Lankans, all-rounder Angelo Mathews has gained two places to reach the 17th position in the batting list, while Dimuth Karunaratne climbed three places to 36th.

Lankan pacer Nuwan Pradeep climbed three places to a career-best 30th spot after his good showing against India.

--IANS

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