Ajinkya Rahane is making rapid strides in a career that is just 22-Tests old, and his six centuries in five different parts of the world indicate he is meant to achieve great heights.
Rahane has become India’s highest-ranked batsman in the latest ICC Test rankings after scoring two centuries in his side’s 337 runs victory over South Africa in the final Test match in New Delhi ,and thereby giving his side a 3-0 win in the four-match series.
The 27-year-old batsman, who entered the Test at 26th spot, has now climbed up 14 places to claim a career-high 12th position after scoring 127 and 100 not out.
Rahane has leapfrogged Virat Kohli (up by two places to 14th), Murali Vijay (down by four places to 16th) and Cheteshwar Pujara (down by two places to 17th) as India now has four batsmen inside the top 20.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin is the other batsman who has improved his ranking post the Kotla Test. Ashwin scored 56 in his only innings, which has helped him move up five places to 46th.
With the ball, Ashwin returned figures of two for 26 and five for 61, and though his performance has helped him gain 15 points to reduce the gap with table-topper Dale Steyn to just four points, it has allowed him to move ahead of Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan as the new number-one ranked Test all-rounder.
India’s left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has continued to head in the right direction. From the New Delhi Test alone, in which he picked up seven wickets, he has gained four places to earn a career-best seventh position.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav has also been rewarded for his figures of two for 32 and three for nine as he has vaulted 13 places to achieve a career-best 32nd position.
For South Africa, fast bowler Kyle Abbott, who bagged five for 40 and one for 47, has gained 24 places. He now shares a career-best 43rd position with Sri Lanka’s Shaminda Eranga.
Meanwhile, Australia currently sits in third position, but will move ahead of second-ranked India if it wins all upcoming three Tests against West Indies. Similarly, if sixth-ranked New Zealand wins both the Tests against Sri Lanka, then it will swap places with fifth-ranked England. In the scenario of Sri Lanka winning both the Tests, it will rise to sixth while New Zealand will slip to seventh.