Ashwin slips to third in ICC Test rankings

India's Ravichandran Ashwin has slipped one rung to third in the International Cricket Council (ICC) list for Test bowlers, released on Wednesday.

South African star pacer Dale Steyn has leapfrogged England's James Anderson and Ashwin to take the bounce back to the top spot.

Steyn's match-winning figures of 5/33 in the second innings helped the Proteas register a thumping 204-run victory over New Zealand in Centurion on Tuesday. This was his 26th five-wicket haul, as the right-armer finished with match figures of eight for 99 to regain the top slot.

The 33-year-old's ascendance to the top has effectively brought Anderson down to second and Ashwin to third. The rest of the top five includes England's Stuart Broad and Sri Lankan Rangana Herath at the fourth and fifth places respectively.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja is another Indian in the top 10 of the list, occupying the 8th spot.

Ashwin, however, continues to lead the table of the Test all-rounders with Bangladeshi Shakib Al Hasan at second and England's Moeen Ali at the third spot.

There were no major changes in the list for batsmen with Australia skipper Steve Smith leading the table followed by England's Joe Root and New Zealander Kane Williamson respectively at second and third spots.

Ajinkya Rahane at 8th is the lone Indian among the top 10 batsmen.

Meanwhile, the 1-0 series win has pushed South Africa up two places to fifth in the ICC Test Team rankings, while New Zealand has slipped two places to seventh.

South Africa is now on 96 points, while Sri Lanka and New Zealand are at 95 points each. However, Sri Lanka is ranked above the Black Caps in sixth place when the ratings are calculated beyond the decimal point.

--IANS

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