Younus Khan returns to top five in ICC rankings

Dubai, Aug.15 (ANI): Pakistan's Younus Khan has returned to the top five of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after belting his sixth career double-century which helped his side to record an impressive 10-wicket victory over England in the fourth and final Test of the series at The Oval. Younus, who shared 11th position with India's Ajinkya Rahane going into the final Test, slammed a fine 218 in the first innings to shoot up to fifth in the latest batting table, which is led by Australia captain Steve Smith. Younus had started the series in fifth position but had dropped out of the top 10 following the third Test at Edgbaston when he slipped from ninth position. Rahane has also made an upward movement after an impressive performance against the West Indies in the Gros Islet Test. Rahane has moved up three places to a career-best eighth rank after innings of 35 and 78 not out in India's 237 runs victory over the West Indies which gave the tourists an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor's unbeaten knocks of 124 and 67 against Zimbabwe has seen him gain five places to reach ninth rank after his team won the second Test at Bulawayo by 254 runs to clinch the two-match series 2-0. England's Moeen Ali has gained six places to move to 26th position, while his compatriot Jonny Bairstow (14th) and the Pakistan duo of Asad Shafiq (15th) and Azhar Ali (17th) have also gained one place each. West Indian batsmen Darren Bravo (27th), Kraigg Braithwaite (33rd) and Marlon Samuels (40th) are other batsmen to move in the right direction. The top 10 of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers has remained largely unchanged but New Zealand's Neil Wagner has gained one spot to reach 13th, while England pace bowler Chris Woakes has gained two spots to reach 18th in a list led by England paceman James Anderson. Pakistan's pace bowling pair of Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan, and the West Indies' Miguel Cummins also made noticeable gains. Left-armer Wahab has gained six slots to reach 27th after grabbing a total of five wickets at The Oval, while Sohail's six wickets during that Test has seen him jump 21 places to 41st rank. Cummins has rocketed 59 places to 55th after match figures of nine for 102. The all-rounders' rankings are led by India's Ravichandran Ashwin, while Australia's Mitchell Starc has broken into the top five for the first time in fifth position after rising two places. The Test player rankings will now be updated following the conclusion of the Colombo Test. MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 15 August, after the Tests in Oval, St Lucia and Bulawayo) Batsmen (top 10) Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating 1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 904 58.41 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015 2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 878 54.86 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 3 ( - ) K. Williamson NZ 873 51.29 893 v Aus at Perth 2015 4 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 860 51.45 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013 5 (+7) Younus Khan Pak 845 53.72 880 v SL at Lahore 2009 6 (-1) Adam Voges Aus 824*! 79.55 824 v SL at Galle 2016 7 (-1) AB de Villiers SA 818 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014 8 (+3) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 785! 49.00 785 v WI at St Lucia 2016 9 (+5) Ross Taylor NZ 772 48.66 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013 10= (-3) Alastair Cook Eng 770 47.31 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012 (-1) David Warner Aus 770 48.82 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 Other selected rankings Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating 12 (-4) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 764 48.27 842 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2014 13 (-3) Angelo Mathews SL 761 47.92 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014 14 (+1) Jonny Bairstow Eng 744! 41.63 744 v Pak at The Oval 2016 15 (+1) Asad Shafiq Pak 739 42.85 758 v Eng at Lord's 2016 16 (-3) Virat Kohli Ind 709 45.06 784 v NZ at Wellington 2014 17 (+1) Azhar Ali Pak 692 43.27 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012 26 (+6) Moeen Ali Eng 617! 34.61 617 v Pak at The Oval 2016 27 (+3) Darren Bravo WI 616 39.96 709 v Aus at Trinidad 2012 33 (+2) K. Brathwaite WI 573 33.70 591 v Eng at Grenada 2015 40 (+6) Marlon Samuels WI 514 33.07 672 v Zim at Barbados 2013 43 (+7) R. Ashwin Ind 511 34.26 527 v Eng at Old Trafford 2014 Bowlers (top 10) Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating 1 ( - ) J.Anderson Eng 870 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016 2 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 858 25.21 876 v WI at Antigua 2016 3 (+1) Dale Steyn SA 841 22.53 909 v WI at Centurion 2014 4 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 836 28.52 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 5 ( - ) Yasir Shah Pak 806* 27.48 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016 6 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 781* 23.42 789 v SA at Delhi 2015 7 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 767! 27.88 767 v SL at Galle 2016 8 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 766 29.43 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014 9 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 756 28.96 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015 10 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 755* 25.29 792 v WI at Hobart 2015 Other selected rankings Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating 13 (+1) Neil Wagner NZ 699*! 30.43 699 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016 18 (+2) Chris Woakes Eng 609*! 26.07 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016 27 (+6) Wahab Riaz Pak 490*! 34.50 490 v Eng at The Oval 2016 41 (+21) Sohail Khan Pak 387*! 40.71 387 v Eng at The Oval 2016 55 (+59) M. Cummins WI 307*! 21.00 307 v Ind at St Lucia 2016 59 (+8) Ish Sodhi NZ 296*! 46.42 296 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016 78 (+6) Roston Chase WI 164*! 41.75 164 v Ind at St Lucia 2016 87 (+7) Martin Guptill NZ 87* 34.50 114 v Pak at Napier 2009 96 (+7) M. Chinouya Zim 48*! 62.66 48 v NZ at Bulawayo 2016 All-rounders (top five) Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating 1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 438! 438 v WI at St Lucia 2016 2 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014 3 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 292 /*! 292 v Pak at The Oval 2016 4 ( - ) V. Philander SA 275*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014 5 (+2) Mitchell Starc Aus 262! 262 v SL at Galle 2016 (ANI)