Kohli back at the summit, Pandya makes big gains

Virat Kohli returned to the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings for batsmen after his scores of 97 and 103 in the Trent Bridge Test against England helped India to a 203-run victory on Wednesday, 22 August.

Kohli’s feats took him to 937 rating points – the highest he’s reached so far – and that helped push him back atop Steve Smith in the charts. Kohli had reached the No.1 spot after totalling 200 runs in the first Test at Edgbaston, but scores of 23 and 17 at Lord’s meant he slipped back down.

He is now only one point outside the top 10 of an all-time rating points list: Don Bradman (961 points), Steve Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both on 942), Peter May (941), and Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Kumar Sangakkara (all on 938 points).

His rise after India’s impressive victory at Trent Bridge was one of several gains made by Indians across departments in the latest update.

No one impressed more than Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder had come into the series with critics questioning his place in the side, but he answered them with his maiden five-wicket haul – a 5/28 in the first innings – and a run-a-ball 52*.

It meant Pandya rose to No.51 in the batsmen’s rankings, a jump of eight spots, but his rising stock was more keenly felt in the bowlers’ charts: he moved up 23 places to No.51, with a career-high 340 points.

His all-round display meant he also moved up significantly in the all-rounders rankings: he now sits at No.17, after a massive jump of 27 places. Jasprit Bumrah was another Indian who impressed. He was unavailable for selection in the first two Tests due to injury, but he made his presence felt in his first match on tour. His 5/85 in the second innings accounted for Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, who had scored his maiden Test century.

It helped Bumrah, after just four Tests, move up to No. 37 in the rankings.

Shikhar Dhawan, who returned to the side after being dropped at Lord’s, and Ajinkya Rahane, who found much-needed form again with a crucial 81 in the first innings, both moved up four places. Dhawan now sits at No.22 in the batsmen’s rankings, three places below Rahane at No.19.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for England. Buttler’s efforts at frustrating India, something he did with considerable success by scoring a 176-ball 106 in the second innings, helped the England vice-captain move up 22 places to No.47 in the batters’ chart.

Adil Rashid, who picked up four wickets in the match and scored 33* in the second innings, made gains as well: he jumped up eight spots among both batsmen and all-rounders, and is now 116th in the batting charts and 43rd among all-rounders.

He also moved up by four places among bowlers, and is now in the top 50, at No.47.

Chris Woakes couldn’t repeat his heroics at Lord’s and fell nine places to No.59 among batters, although he did move up by one place among bowlers and is now ranked No.31.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow both fell by two places in the batting charts, and are now 5th and 11th respectively.

India call up Shaw, Vihari for last two tests in England

Reuters: Uncapped batsmen Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari have been included in India’s squad for the final two tests against England, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Wednesday.

Opening batsmen Murali Vijay was dropped after his disappointing show in the first two tests at Edgbaston.

The 34-year-old was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan in the team for the third test which the visitors won to narrow England’s lead to 2-1 after three matches of the five-game series.

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav was sent home to play for India A team in two four-day matches against Australia A.

The 18-year-old Shaw earned his maiden test call-up on the back of a string of strong performances for India A, including a knock of 188 against West Indies A last month.

Vihari has been one of the most consistent performers in domestic cricket, averaging 59.79 in 63 first-class matches.

Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retained his spot in the squad despite struggling with a hip injury during the third test.

The fourth test begins on 30 August at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.

Full squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Karun Nair, Hanuma Vihari.