Ashwin rises to No.2 in ICC Test rankings

Ashwin, who was ranked fifth in the ICC rankings, went past England’s James Anderson, Stuart Board and Pakistan’s Yasir Shah to climb to the second spot with 856 points behind South Africa’s Dale Steyn with 884 points. Ashwin’s Man of the Match performance at Nagpur helped him make the climb from the fifth spot to the second.

Amit Mishra also improved his rankings on the back of his performance at Nagpur to go up by two places to 31.

Murali Vijay is the top ranked batsman for India in 12 position, while Virat Kohli bettered one place to take the 16 position. Opener Shikhar Dhawan and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha also improved their rankings by moving to 32 and 92 places respectively.

In the team rankings, South Africa leads the table with 125 points followed by Australia with 109 and Pakistan with 106 points. India occupies the fourth position in the table with 100 points.

India could move to the second place with 110 points, if Kohli and co manages to ensure a victory in the fourth and final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi on December 3. If India manages a 3-0 series win, then South Africa’s lead at the top will come down to just four points.