Dubai, June 18
South Africa, still basking in the glory of their World Test Championship (WTC) final triumph against Australia, saw the star-studded group soar to new heights in the latest ICC rankings.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued the updated rankings on Wednesday, and several members of the Proteas cast jumped to new levels in the Men's Test Player Rankings.
Player of the Match, Aiden Markram, jumped seven places to the 11th spot, just on the outskirts of the Top 10 rankings. A mere two points separate him from breaching the mark, with New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell occupying the 10th spot with a tally of 725.
Markram dazzled with his swashbuckling display with the bat and hammered 136 runs off 207 balls to clear South Africa's route to the coveted WTC mace.
Apart from his batting masterclass, Markram chipped in with the ball and nabbed two priceless scalps of Steven Smith in the first and Josh Hazlewood in the second. With his impactful performance, Markram leapfrogged a whopping 44 places to move to the 65th spot.
David Bedingham chipped in with handy contributions and rose to new levels in the Test rankings. In the first, he single-handedly tried to keep South Africa's innings intact with a resilient 45(111) and then finished the job with his unbeaten 21(49). As a result, he climbed 17 places to 40 alongside Australia's Cameron Green.
In the Bowling Rankings, Lungi Ngidi's inspirational 3/38 spell in the second innings helped him climb seven places to 37th place with quicks Lahiru Kumara and Naseem Shah.
Kagiso Rabada, who spearheaded South Africa's pace attack and returned with match figures of 9/110, maintained his position at second behind India's Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia's seasoned quick Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Beau Webster benefited from their valiance in the WTC final. Starc, who scythed five wickets and struck a crucial 58*, moved to the 10th spot in the Men's Test Bowling and All-Rounders Rankings.
Webster, who slammed 72(92) and emerged as Australia's top scorer in the first innings, ascended 13 places to occupy the 70th spot in the Batting Rankings.
— ANI
Reader Comments
What a performance by South Africa! Markram was simply outstanding. But honestly, as an Indian fan, I'm more interested in seeing Bumrah maintain his top spot. Rabada closing in though - our pace attack needs to stay sharp! 🇮🇳ðŸ
South Africa truly deserved this win after years of near-misses. Their bowling attack is world class - reminds me of our Indian pace battery. Hope we get to see India vs SA Test series soon, would be a cracker of a contest!
ICC rankings need to give more weight to performances in big matches like WTC final. Markram's knock was worth more than regular Test runs. BCCI should push for this change - would benefit our players too in important tournaments.
Rabada at No. 2 is scary good! 😳 But our Bumrah is still the king. Interesting to see how these rankings change after India's England tour. Hope our boys can dominate like SA did in this final. #TeamIndia
While SA's win is impressive, the real story is how Australia collapsed. Shows even top teams can falter under pressure. India needs to learn from this - we've had our share of final disappointments. Need more mental toughness in crunch games.
Happy for South Africa but can't help thinking what might have been if India had qualified. Our team has the talent to win WTC next cycle if we fix our overseas performance. Time for Rohit and Dravid to build a champion Test side!
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