Sports

Starc Reclaims Top Spot in ICC Test Bowling Rankings After Dominant Performance

By icc

Australia’s fast bowler Mitchell Starc moved back to the top of the ICC Men’s Test Bowling Rankings after taking six for 72 and three for 65 in the third match of the ICC World Test Championship series against South Africa in Cape Town. Australia lost the series 2‑1 by 176 runs, but Starc’s figures displaced South Africa all‑rounder Marco Jansen, who had become the No. 1 bowler only the week before.

Simon Harmer earned Player of the Match with a maiden 10‑wicket haul, moving nine places to seventh in the rankings. His rating of 817 is the second‑highest for a South African spinner, behind Hugh Tayfield’s 895 in 1957. Harmer’s performance also lifted him three places to fifth among all‑rounders, joining Jansen (No. 1) and Wiaan Mulder (No. 3) as the only South Africans in the top five.

India’s Ravindra Jadeja remains second and Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan fourth in the all‑rounder list.

In the weekly update, Bangladesh–West Indies Test in Dhaka saw spinner Jomel Warrican take nine wickets for the Player of the Match award, moving him six places to 30th. Bangladesh’s Nayeem Hasan and Shoriful Islam, and West Indies’ Roston Chase also advanced in the bowling rankings.

Test batting rankings saw Mulder’s 115 in the second innings lift him seven places to a career‑best 17th. Ryan Rickelton advanced 25 places to 23rd after a 101, while Marcques Ackerman’s scores of 95 and 62 moved him 129 slots to 69th. Bangladesh’s Shadman Islam progressed from 67th to 63rd.

In ODIs, Fakhar Zaman’s 127 in the final of the Pakistan ODI Tri‑Series against Sri Lanka in Lahore moved him nine places to 37th. Pavan Rathnayake’s 77 against Sri Lanka, after a 118 against England, jumped 20 places to 16th. Ben Ducket’s 167 off 132 against Sri Lanka gave him a career‑best sixth position. Tom Banton entered the top 50 for the first time.

The ODI bowling rankings saw Namibia’s JJ Smit move 44 places to joint‑30th with India’s Jasprit Bumrah after successive four‑wicket hauls in a 3‑2 series win over Ireland in Windhoek.

In T20Is, India captain Shreyas Iyer moved two places to seventh after scoring 50 against New Zealand in Hamilton. New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips advanced 13 places to 24th, and Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza moved 12 places to 41st. Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai’s 116 against Zimbabwe in Sharjah lifted him 34 places to 59th. Former top‑ranked Jacob Duffy’s four wickets for 23 in Auckland moved him 23 places to 23rd.

For the ICC World Test Championship standings, please click here. To know more about the ICC Rankings, please click here.