Dubai:After a sensational performance in the recently-concluded Test series against South Africa, Rohit Sharma moved into the 10th spot in the latest ICC Test rankings, released on Wednesday. Before his comeback his ICC test ranking was 54.
Playing as an opener for the first time in his Test career, Rohit hit 176, 127, 14 and 212, as India whitewashed South Africa 3-0 across Vizag, Pune and Ranchi.
Rohit scored a total of 529 runs and became the first batsman to score more than 500 runs in a bilateral series against South Africa. He was also adjudged player of the series for his heroics with the bat.
After this feat, Rohit became third Indian batsman after Virat Kohli and retired India opener Gautam Gambhir to figure in the top-10 in all three formats.
Rohit had reached a career-high 17th spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsman after his twin hundreds in the Vizag Test against South Africa. However, a failure in Pune saw him slip to the 22nd spot. Rohit moved 12 spots to break into the top 10 for the first time in his Test career, after his maiden Test double hundred in Ranchi.
Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane, who scored a hundred in the final test in Ranchi, moved to No 5. Virat, who made a career 254 not out in the second Test, but did not get any other big score in the series, retained his No 2 spot. However, he fell behind in points.
Steve Smith, who is 11 points ahead of Kohli, continues to lead the Test rankings for batsmen, while the top five comprises of Kohli, Kane Williamson, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane in that order.In bowler's rankings, Australia's Pat Cummins is at the top with 908 points, followed by Kagiso Rabada at second spot with 839 points.
Meanwhile, India's Jasprit Bumrah dropped a spot to fourth, after missing out on the three-Test series against South Africa with a back injury. West Indies' Jason Holder has taken up the third spot and James Anderson completes the top 5.
In the all-rounder's rankings, Jason Holder is the leader, while India's Ravindra Jadeja retained his second spot with some fine performances in the three-Test series. R Ashwin dropped a spot to sixth in the all-rounder's rankings and slipped to 10th in the Test bowler's rankings.(UNI)