JOHANNESBURG - South Africa Kagiso Rabada’s reign as the number-one ranked Test bowler lasted just one Test as he has slipped behind James Anderson in the latest ICC rankings released on Thursday.
Rabada had figures of 1/74 and three 3/47 in the second Test against India which ended in a 135-run victory for South Africa in Centurion on Wednesday, and they were not enough to keep him ahead of Anderson as he has dropped 16 points to now trail Anderson by 15.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Vernon Philander were the other bowlers inside the top 10 to slip, going down one position each. Ashwin is now fifth, while Philander is seventh.
However, India fast bowler Mohammad Shami has achieved a career-high ranking of 17th after taking five wickets in the match.
South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi has made an impressive entry in the bowler rankings after debuting in 61st position. Ngidi took 1/51 and 6/39.
There is no change in the top five all-rounders and Shakib Al Hasan continues to lead the field by a distance. Ravindra Jadeja is second, followed by Ashwin, Ben Stokes and Philander.
Heading the right direction in the batting rankings are South Africa’s trio of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar, while batsmen to head in the opposite direction include Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul and Quinton de Kock.
Amla, who scored 82 in the first innings, has moved up two places to eighth, while du Plessis has been rewarded for his contributions of 63 and 48 with a rise of two places that has given him a career-high ranking of 12th. Elgar has also gained two places and is now ranked 14th following scores of 31 and 61.
In contrast, Pujara has slipped one place to sixth, Rahul has fallen six places to 18th and de Kock is 20th after plummeting five places.
Outside the top 20, SA opener Aiden Markram has made an impressive gain after rising 10 places to share 38th position with Roston Chase of the Windies. In the last three Tests, Markram, who captained South Africa to the Under-19 Cricket World Cup title in the UAE in 2014, has earned 20 places.
All the support has been amazing south africans are number 1 🙂❤
— Lungi Ngidi (@NgidiLungi) January 18, 2018