Shakib still holds No 1 all-rounder ranking
ICC releases latest players� Test ranking
Sports Reporter
Bangladeshi cricket icon Shakib Al Hasan maintained the top slot in the ICC Test all-rounder ranking as the world cricket apex body released the latest Test ranking of players yesterday.
The ICC prepared the list immediately after the end of second Test match between Pakistan and England in Dubai and between Sri Lanka and West Indies in Colombo on Monday.
Shakib, the No. 1 all-rounder in all three formats, could not improve his ranking points as Bangladesh did not play any Test since August this year. His tally remained to 384 points. Ravichandran Ashwin of India was still in second position with 347 points. Vernon Philander of South Africa, Stuart Broad of England Mitchell Johnson of Australia were in third, fourth and fifth position with 337, 301 and 263 points respectively.
Meanwhile, Englands batsman Joe Root has regained the number-one batting ranking, while Pakistans wrist spinner Yasir Shah has become the second highest-ranked bowler in the world in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings.
Root scored 88 and 71 in the Dubai Test, which has helped him reclaim the top spot from Australia captain Steven Smith. Root, who entered the Test trailing Smith by 13 points, now leads the Australian by just three points. This means the Yorkshire batsman will have to perform strongly in the third Test, starting in Sharjah from Sunday, to retain the position he first achieved following the Trent Bridge Test against Australia in August.
Younus Khan, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq have also reaped the rewards of good performances in the Dubai Test, which went down to the wire.
Younus has returned to the top five in fifth position following knocks of 56 and 118, Misbah has moved up five places to 11th following his scores of 102 and 87, and Asad Shafiq has achieved a career-high ranking of 12th after he scored 83 and 87. For this performance, Asad has earned 43 points, which, in turn, has put him ahead of Virat Kohli, Ross Taylor, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brendon McCullum and Faf du Plessis.
The Dubai Test was also a memorable one for Pakistans leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who has achieved the number-two ranking for the first time in his career. Yasir picked up eight for 180 in Pakistans 178 runs victory, which has earned him 25 points. This has, in turn, enabled him to leapfrog the pace trio of Englands James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and New Zealands Trent Boult.
