Jasprit Bumrah becomes first Indian pacer to top ICC rankings

Jasprit Bumrah (Pic: AFP)

India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Wednesday rose to the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings, becoming the first-ever fast bowler from the country to achieve the feat.

The 30-year-old played a key role in India's series-equalling victory in the IND vs ENG 2nd Test last week, with a match haul of nine wickets.

Bumrah replaced his teammate, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, at the top of the ICC table. While Bumrah climbed three places to reach the top, Ashwin dropped to third. South African pacer Kagiso Rabada held on to second place despite being out of action in the ongoing Test series in New Zealand.

The 30-year-old's nine-wicket match haul has helped him leapfrog Pat Cummins, Kagiso Rabada and Ravichandran Ashwin, making him only the fourth from his country to attain number one position.

Bumrah, who was named Player of the Match after helping India level the five-match series with a 106-run victory, ended Ashwin's 11-month long reign. Ashwin, on 499 Test wickets, is now third in the standings.

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Bumrah now has 881 rating points with Ashwin (904) and Jadeja (899) the only India bowlers to have aggregated more rating points. Ashwin and Jadeja also have the unique distinction of being jointly top-ranked in March 2017.

Before Bumrah, only three Indian bowlers have been at the pinnacle of ICC's Test bowling rankings: Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and the legendary left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi, who passed away last year.

The previous highest-ranking Indian pace bowler was Kapil Dev, who held the second rank for a brief period between December 1979 and February 1980. Left-armer Zaheer Khan was number three from October to November 2020.

In the latest round of rankings, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal leapfrogged 37 places to become the 29th-ranked Test batsman, on the back of his double century in the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who led his team to victory against South Africa Wednesday with a century in each innings, continued to dominate the Test batting rankings.

The latest rankings have also factored in performances in the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in Colombo. Left-arm spinner Prabhath Jayasuriya has moved up to three places to a career-best sixth position after his eight-wicket match haul helped the home side win by 10 wickets.

In the ODI rankings, Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa is up one place to third and fast bowler Sean Abbott's six wickets in the three-match series against the West Indies this past week have lifted him 35 places to joint-33rd position.

(With agency inputs)