England’s veteran bowler James Anderson has become the no. 1 ranked Test bowler in the newly released ICC Men’s Test Rankings. The 40-year-old fast bowler displaced Australian skipper Pat Cummins and ended the latter’s four-year reign to acquire the top spot among bowlers.
Anderson grabbed the position following his exploits in the ongoing New Zealand tour, where he took a 7-wicket match haul in the first game to guide England to an emphatic 267-run victory in Mount Maunganui. The English cricketer jumped two spots to acquire the crown with 866 points and also overtook India’s Ravichandran Ashwin, who now stands next to him in the tally, as Cummins slipped to the third spot.
Notably, it is the sixth time Anderson held the no. 1 title among bowlers in the longest format. However, there’s a chance for both Ashwin and Cummins to claim the throne from him by performing well in the remaining two fixtures of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023. The 36-year-old Tamil Nadu cricketer with 864 points is just two figures away from bagging the premier bowler title in the Test format.
Apart from Anderson, India’s star spinner Ravindra Jadeja also showed a major gain in the latest rankings and is back in the top ten list. Jadeja moved up seven places to reach the ninth position. The 34-year-old cricketer played a significant role in helping India retain BGT 2023 and was also adjudged player of the match in the two consecutive matches of the series played so far.
The second leading run-scorer for India in the ongoing series against Australia, Axar Patel, ranked fifth in the all-rounder’s category. Meanwhile, New Zealand pair Tom Blundell (11th) and Devon Conway (17th) rose to career-high positions in batters rankings, with England’s Ollie Pope (23rd), Harry Brook (31st) and Ben Duckett (38th) also showing drastic jumps.
In the meantime, Marnus Labuschagne maintained his numero-uno among batters.
