Photo Credit: BCCI
Captain Kane Williamson’s epic 238 in the second Test against Pakistan in Christchurch has helped him reach the best ever-rating points by a New Zealand player while consolidating his position at the top of the list of batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.
WILLIAMSON SETS NEW TEST RANKINGS HIGH FOR A NEW ZEALAND PLAYER
- Smith gets past Kohli to second position; Pujara, Pant, Vihari and Ashwin move up after memorable fighting knocks in Sydney Test
- Azhar, Elgar, Jamieson and Hazlewood among others to gain after Tuesday’s update that includes performances in Christchurch and Johannesburg
Captain Kane Williamson’s epic 238 in the second Test against Pakistan in Christchurch has helped him reach the best ever-rating points by a New Zealand player while consolidating his position at the top of the list of batsmen in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings.
Williamson, named player of the series after leading his side to an innings and 176 runs win and a 2-0 victory in the two-Test series, has reached 919 rating points, bettering his own mark of 915 in December 2018. ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Richard Hadlee is the only other player from New Zealand to go past the 900-point mark, reaching a career-high 909 rating points in bowling in December 1985.
In the latest rankings update that includes the second Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Johannesburg and the third Test between Australia and India in Sydney, Steve Smith has leapfrogged Virat Kohli to second position after scores of 131 and 81 while Dean Elgar has moved to 13th position with knocks of 127 and 31 not out.
In other movement for New Zealand players, Henry Nicholls has gained three places to reach ninth among batsmen after his knock of 157 while fast bowler Kyle Jamieson’s match haul of 11-117 has lifted him seven places to a career-best 21st place. With 36 Test wickets so far, Jamieson is also fifth among all-rounders after only six Tests.
Azhar Ali’s knocks of 93 and 37 have helped him advance him seven places to 18th position and his compatriot Mohammad Rizwan’s first-innings half-century has helped him gain 10 places to reach 37th position.
The drawn Sydney Test saw Marnus Labuschagne consolidate the fourth position with a career-best 866 rating points after scores of 91 and 73 while fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has gained three places to reach fifth position with four wickets in the match.
For India, Cheteshwar Pujara’s knocks of 50 and 77 have taken him from 10th to eighth position and Rishabh Pant’s scores of 36 and 97 have helped him gain 19 places to reach 26th position. Hanuma Vihari and Ravichandran Ashwin too have gained after their fighting knocks, as has Shubman Gill.
The Centurion Test saw Anrich Nortje (up 10 places to 38th), Wiaan Mulder (up 22 places to 45th), Lutho Sipamla (up 23 places to 47th) and Lungi Ngidi (up seven places to 49th) make huge gains among bowlers while for Sri Lanka, captain Dimuth Karunaratne (up two places to 15th) and Kusal Perera (up four places to 56th) have moved up in the list of batsmen.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 12 January 2021, after the Christchurch, Johannesburg and Sydney Tests):
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avg | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 919! | 54.31 | 919 v Pak at Christchurch 2021 |
| 2 | (+1) | Steve Smith | Aus | 900 | 62.07 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 3 | (-1) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 870 | 53.41 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Marnus Labuschagne | Aus | 866*! | 60.41 | 866 v India at Sydney 2021 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Babar Azam | Pak | 781 | 45.44 | 800 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020 |
| 6 | (+2) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 760 | 37.84 | 827 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 7 | (-1) | Ajinkya Rahane | Ind | 756 | 42.81 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
| 8 | (+2) | Cheteshwar Pujara | Ind | 753 | 47.85 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 9 | (+3) | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 747 | 43.91 | 778 v Ban at Wellington 2019 |
| 10 | (-3) | David Warner | Aus | 745 | 48.41 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avg | Highest Rating |
| 13 | (+7) | Dean Elgar | SA | 684 | 40.20 | 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 15 | (+2) | D Karunaratne | SL | 673 | 36.66 | 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018 |
| 18 | (+7) | Azhar Ali | Pak | 658 | 42.87 | 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016 |
| 26 | (+19) | Rishabh Pant | Ind | 622* | 40.66 | 673 v Aus at Sydney 2019 |
| 34 | (+2) | R Jadeja | Ind | 584 | 36.18 | 584 v Aus at Sydney 2021 |
| 37 | (+10) | M Rizwan | Pak | 572*! | 39.20 | 572 v NZ at Christchurch 2021 |
| 38= | (+2) | Dom Sibley | Eng | 567* | 38.11 | 575 v Pak at Southampton 2020 |
| 48 | (+3) | Ollie Pope | Eng | 531* | 37.94 | 564 v Pak at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 51= | (+2) | Hanuma Vihari | Ind | 520* | 32.84 | 601 v WI at Jamaica 2019 |
| 56 | (+4) | Kusal Perera | SL | 512* | 31.61 | 559 v SA at Port Elizabeth 2019 |
| 68= | (+8) | Shubman Gill | Ind | 459*! | 53.66 | 459 v Aus at Sydney 2021 |
| 77 | (+17) | Faheem Ashraf | Pak | 422*! | 32.40 | 422 v NZ at Christchurch 2021 |
| 80 | (+7) | V der Dussen | SA | 417*! | 35.60 | 417 v SL at Johannesburg 2021 |
| 85 | (+21) | Daryl Mitchell | NZ | 399* | 75.33 | 402 v Eng at Hamilton 2019 |
| 89 | (+2) | R Ashwin | Ind | 374 | 27.71 | 553 v Eng at Mohali 2016 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avg | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 908 | 21.47 | 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 845 | 27.65 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 825 | 26.32 | 859 v Aus at Melbourne 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Tim Southee | NZ | 811 | 28.70 | 826 v Pak at Mount Maunganui 2020 |
| 5 | (+3) | Josh Hazlewood | Aus | 805 | 25.76 | 864 v India at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 6 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 786 | 22.95 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 7 | (+3) | James Anderson | Eng | 781 | 26.79 | 903 v India at Lord’s 2018 |
| 8 | (-3) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 774 | 27.14 | 807 v NZ at Perth 2019 |
| 9 | (-2) | Ravichandran Ashwin | Ind | 768 | 25.53 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
| 10 | (-1) | Jasprit Bumrah | Ind | 765* | 21.59 | 834 v WI at Jamaica 2019 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avg | Highest Rating |
| 13 | (+1) | R Jadega | Ind | 733 | 24.32 | 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017 |
| 21 | (+7) | Kyle Jamieson | NZ | 637*! | 13.27 | 637 v Pak at Christchurch 2021 |
| 38 | (+10) | Anrich Nortje | SA | 429*! | 30.73 | 429 v SL at Johannesburg 2021 |
| 45 | (+22) | Wiaan Mulder | SA | 360*! | 19.70 | 360 v SL at Johannesburg 2021 |
| 47 | (+23) | Lutho Sipamla | SA | 339*! | 16.70 | 339 v SL at Johannesburg 2021 |
| 49 | (+7) | Lungi Ngidi | SA | 324* | 25.72 | 405 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 63 | (+8) | D Shanaka | SL | 241* | 31.46 | 269 v India at Kolkata 2017 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 446 | 497 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 2 | (+1) | R Jadeja | Ind | 428 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 3 | (-1) | Jason Holder | WI | 423 | 485 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 4 | ( – ) | S Al Hasan | Ban | 366 | 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
| 5 | (+5) | Kyle Jamieson | NZ | 293*/*! | 293 v Pak at Christchurch 2021 |
*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
!indicates career-highest rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.
Name of Author: ICC
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body for cricket, founded in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference. Renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, it became the ICC in 1987. Headquartered in Dubai, UAE, the ICC has 108 member nations.
