The Saurashtra and Indian all-rounder has climbed to the top of the ICC Test all-rounder’s rankings, displacing West Indian Jason Holder, who dropped down one spot in the rankings.
Jadeja’s supreme performance in India’s first Test against Sri Lanka launched him into pole position. The left-hander scored a brilliant 175* in the first innings to take India to a massive total of 574/8 before picking up a haul of nine wickets in the Test, including a fifer in Sri Lanka’s first innings to set up a monstrous victory for India by an innings and 222 runs.
Holder was at the summit of the rankings for over a year and now occupies the second position, 24 rating points behind the veteran Indian all-rounder. Ravichandran Ashwin, who also had an impressive Test match with both bat and ball, is third on the list, with 347 rating points.
Jadeja was on course to create history by becoming the first player to score in excess of 150 and pick up ten wickets in the same game, but fell agonisingly short, as his spin partner Ashwin picked up the last Sri Lankan wicket to leave Jadeja with figures of 9/87 in the match. Notwithstanding, Jadeja became only the sixth player in Test match history to score more than 150 and pick up five wickets, and only the second Indian, as he matched the great Kapil Dev.
Former skipper Virat Kohli, who scored 45 in India’s only innings, moved two spots up to No.5, as Rishabh Pant broke into the top 10.
The first Test between Australia and Pakistan at Rawalpindi was a batting haven, and that has had some implications on the batting rankings. Pakistani veteran Azhar Ali, who scored 185 in the first innings as Pakistan scored 476/4, moved up to No.12, while Imam-ul Haq secured a career-best ranking of 63rd after scoring twin tons in the Test match, with scores of 157 and 111*.
The Rawalpindi pitch, which raised eyebrows, has been rated ‘below average’ by match referee Ranjan Madugalle and as a result, the ICC has handed one demerit point. Five demerit points accumulated over a year will result in a ban on hosting international cricket for 12 months.
