Shami, Agarwal make massive strides in ICC Test rankings

DUBAI: At 15th spot, Babar Azam was Pakistan’s highest-ranked batsman with Australia’s Steven Smith still leading the table in the latest update of the ICC Test rankings.Meanwhile, India’s Mayank Agarwal surged to 11th position. Agarwal scored 243 - his second double-century in just 12 Test innings - in their innings-and-130-run win over Bangladesh in the Indore Test.Agarwal finished just outside the top ten, which includes team-mates Virat Kohli at No. 2, Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 4, Ajinkya Rahane at No. 5 and Rohit Sharma at No. 10. The 28-year-old batsman has had a spectacular start to his Test career, totalling 858 runs in just eight games so far, his runs coming at an average of 71.50, with three centuries and three half-centuries.From Bangladesh’s point of view, it was a disappointing start to the World Test Championship campaign, as they lost the first of two Tests inside three days. Mushfiqur Rahim, though, did well with the bat, scoring 43 and 64, which helped him move up five spots to No. 30.In the bowling rankings, Pakistan’s Mohammad Abbas was at 12th spot in a table headed by Australia’s Pat Cummins. Cummins was followed by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.His seven-wicket haul against Bangladesh meant India’s Mohammad Shami moved up eight spots in the rankings to a career-high No. 7, three positions below teammates Jasprit Bumrah and three spots above No. 10 R Ashwin. Bangladesh’s Abu Jayed, the fast bowler who picked up four wickets in the Indian innings, moved to the 62nd position, a jump of 18 spots.

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