Pakistan aims to consolidate third position in Test rankings

Shakib tops all-rounders’ list following Bangladesh’s win in Khulna Test

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Third-ranked Pakistan has a chance to reduce the gap further on second-ranked Australia in the Reliance ICC Test Team Rankingswhen it faces New Zealand in the three-Test series, which starts at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

A 3-0 series win over New Zealand will earn Misbah-ul-Haq’s side five ratings points, thus reducing Australia’s lead to seven points. A 2-0 win for the hosts will see them reduce the deficit to nine points, while a 1-0 victory will see Pakistan gain a solitary ratings point.

A drawn series will result in Pakistan swapping positions with England, while New Zealand will improve its rankings point by one.

In contrast, a one-nil victory for seventh-placed New Zealand see it leapfrog India into sixth position with Pakistan dropping to fifth position. A 2-0 win will push New Zealand into fifth place with Pakistan slipping to sixth spot.

South Africa’s current seven-point lead at the summit will not be affected, however, the top of the table could see movement when South Africa welcome West Indies in a three-Test series, and MS Dhoni’s India travels Down Under to face Australia in a four-Test series. Both the series start next month.

To find out exactly how the forthcoming series will affect the Rankings Table, please clickhere. The Test Ranking Table, unlike the ODI and T20I Rankings tables, is updated after every series.

In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, Pakistan will be looking to their in-form batsmen – sixth-placed Younus Khan and Misbah (eighth). Batsmen sitting outside the top 15 and aiming for upward movements include Azhar Ali (17th), Asad Shafiq (22nd) and Sarfraz Ahmed (33rd).

Ross Taylor, in ninth position, is New Zealand’s highest-ranked batsman and he will be keen to gain ground on Misbah, who is 23 points ahead of him. Kane Williamson (13th) and Brendon McCullum (19th) will also both be aiming to head in the right direction.

In the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for Test Bowlers, New Zealand currently has two bowlers well-positioned to improve their ratings. This includes Tim Southee, the seventh-ranked bowler who earlier in the week was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year. Trent Boult is in 11th spot and just 10 points away from returning to the top 10.

Bangladesh v Zimbabwe

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan has become the top-ranked all-rounder in the Reliance ICC Players Rankings for Test All-Rounders after joining the exclusive company of England’s Ian Botham and Imran Khan of Pakistan by scoring a century and taking 10 wickets in the match.

In doing so, Shakib displaced India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and has also moved up six places to 30th in the batting rankings and four places to a career-high 14th position in the bowling rankings.

There were a number of upward movements in the rankings arising from Bangladesh’s 162 runs victory in Khulna, with the home side’s Momimul Haque moving up a place to a career-high 32nd position. Zimbabwe’s Hamilton Masakadza is the highest mover by 24 places to 43rd place after scores of 158 and 61.

Bangladesh spinner Taijul Islam has improved his rankings by eight places to 33rd after accumulating match figures of six wickets for 140. Tinashe Panyangara is Zimbabwe’s highest-ranked bowler after moving up three places to a career high 41st position, while Malcolm Waller has propelled 67 places to 78th position after claiming six wickets in the match.

Having clinched the series with one Test remaining, Bangladesh can already look forward to moving up the Test team rankings once the series is complete following the Third Test which starts on Wednesday in Chittagong.

Upcoming fixtures

Pakistan v New Zealand
9-13 Nov – 1st Test, Abu Dhabi
17-21 Nov – 2nd Test, Dubai
26-30 Nov – 3rd Test, Sharjah

Bangladesh v Zimbabwe
12-16 Nov – Third Test, Chittagong
Reliance ICC Test Team Rankings (as on 8 November, before the start of Pakistan-New Zealand Test series)

Rank Team Rating
1 South Africa 124
2 Australia 117
3 Pakistan 105
4 England 104
5 Sri Lanka 101
6 India 96
7 New Zealand 93
8 West Indies 75
9 Zimbabwe 39
10 Bangladesh 19

(Developed by David Kendix)

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 8 November, after the second Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe):

Batsmen

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) K. Sangakkara SL 915 58.76 938 v Eng at Kandy 2007
2 ( - ) AB de Villiers SA 888 51.02 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
3 ( - ) S.Chanderpaul WI 887 53.10 901 v NZ at Napier 2008
4 ( - ) Angelo Mathews SL 873! 52.65 873 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
5 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 863 51.32 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
6 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 860 53.49 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
7 ( - ) David Warner Aus 858 47.47 875 v Pak at Dubai 2014
8 ( - ) Misbah-ul-Haq Pak 818 49.38 824 v SL at Sharjah 2014
9 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 795 46.43 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013
10 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 789! 50.94 789 v Ind at The Oval 2014
11 ( - ) Michael Clarke Aus 755 50.59 900 v SL at Melbourne 2012
12 ( - ) Steven Smith Aus 730 40.39 737 v SA at Cape Town 2014
13 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 728! 40.28 728 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
14 ( - ) Faf du Plessis SA 707*! 52.58 707 v Zim at Harare 2014
15 ( - ) M. Jayawardene SL 702 49.84 883 v Ind at Ahmedabad 2009
16 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 691 49.26 851 v SA at Durban 2013
17 (+1) Azhar Ali Pak 671 41.22 753 v SL at Pallekele 2012
18 (+1) Ian Bell Eng 652 45.00 822 v Ind at The Oval 2011
19 (+1) B. McCullum NZ 651 37.10 724 v Ind at Wellington 2014
20 (-3) Brendan Taylor Zim 649* 35.80 684 v Ban at Mirpur 2014

Selected Rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
22 ( - ) Asad Shafiq Pak 634 37.68 680 v SA at Cape Town 2013
30 (+6) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 599 38.14 603 v WI at Khulna 2012
32 (+1) Mominul Haque Ban 590*! 56.61 590 v Zim at Khulna 2014
33 (-1) Sarfraz Ahmed Pak 578*! 39.43 578 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014
34 (-5) M. Rahim Ban 575 33.56 604 v Zim at Mirpur 2014
37 (+5) Tamim Iqbal Ban 566 36.70 707 v Eng at Old Trafford 2010
39 (-1) BJ Watling NZ 556 37.11 574 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2014
43 (+24) H. Masakadza Zim 532*! 29.50 532 v Ban at Khulna 2014
46 (-1) Jimmy Neesham NZ 519*! 64.00 519 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
51 (+6) Mahmudullah Ban 497! 30.97 497 v Zim at Khulna 2014
57 (-2) Ahmed Shehzad Pak 456* 38.71 472 v Aus at Dubai 2014
64 (-1) M. Hafeez Pak 421 33.16 595 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2012
85= (+1) H. Rutherford NZ 334* 27.08 454 v Eng at Wellington 2013
(+1) Corey Anderson NZ 334* 32.70 367 v Ind at Auckland 2014
87 (-19) Sikandar Raza Zim 333* 30.00 406 v Ban at Mirpur 2014
92 (+33) Regis Chakabva Zim 318*! 24.35 318 v Ban at Khulna 2014
98 (-8) Malcolm Waller Zim 297* 23.29 334 v Pak at Harare 2013

Bowlers

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
1 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 907 22.56 908 v Pak at Johannesburg 2013
2 ( - ) Ryan Harris Aus 853 22.56 870 v SA at Cape Town 2014
3 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 851! 29.06 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014
4 ( - ) M. Johnson Aus 844 27.47 849 v Pak at Dubai 2014
5 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 806 29.72 813 v Ind at Edgbaston 2011
6 ( - ) V. Philander SA 785 21.57 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
7 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 783 29.83 799 v WI at Kingston 2014
8 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 774 29.90 783 v WI at Lord's 2012
9 ( - ) Kemar Roach WI 768! 25.98 768 v Ban at St Lucia 2014
10 ( - ) Saeed Ajmal Pak 747 28.10 855 v Zim at Harare 2013
11 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 737* 27.45 767 v Ind at Wellington 2014
12 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 710 28.65 808 v WI at Mumbai 2013
13 ( - ) Morne Morkel SA 707 29.90 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
14 (+4) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 700! 30.92 700 v Zim at Khulna 2014
15= (-1) Peter Siddle Aus 691 30.20 816 v Eng at Old Trafford 2013
(-1) Pragyan Ojha Ind 691 30.26 773 v Eng at Kolkata 2012
17 (-1) Junaid Khan Pak 639* 28.83 652 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2014
18 (-1) Abdur Rehman Pak 637* 29.39 739 v Eng at Dubai 2012
19 ( - ) Ishant Sharma Ind 588 36.75 671 v WI at Dominica 2011
20 ( - ) Sulieman Benn WI 574*! 35.60 574 v Ban at St Lucia 2014

Selected Rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Ave HS Rating
23 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 549*! 33.89 549 v WI at Bridgetown 2014
33 (+8) Taijul Islam Ban 425*! 23.04 425 v Zim at Khulna 2014
37 (-1) Yasir Shah Pak 400*! 17.25 400 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014
41 (+3) T. Panyangara Zim 388*! 26.37 388 v Ban at Khulna 2014
42 (-2) Zulfiqar Babar Pak 385*! 31.65 385 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014
45 ( - ) Doug Bracewell NZ 364* 36.26 538 v WI at Kingston 2012
54 ( - ) M. Hafeez Pak 324* 33.94 358 v SA at Cape Town 2013
57 (-2) Tendai Chatara Zim 306* 29.25 360 v SA at Harare 2014
60 (-2) S. Hossain Ban 284* 51.76 438 v Ind at Chittagong 2010
63 ( - ) S. Masakadza Zim 275* 29.28 308 v Ban at Harare 2013
66 ( - ) Corey Anderson NZ 268* 30.54 377 v WI at Hamilton 2013
67 ( - ) Mahmudullah Ban 254* 47.35 381 v WI at St George's 2009
72 ( - ) Rahat Ali Pak 236* 43.00 271 v Zim at Harare 2013
74 ( - ) M. Talha Pak 234* 40.88 241 v SL at Galle 2014
77 (+1) Ish Sodhi NZ 223* 46.57 225 v WI at Port-of-Spain 2014
78 (+67) Malcolm Waller Zim 217*! 22.00 217 v Ban at Khulna 2014
80 ( - ) Mark Craig NZ 207* 40.83 256 v WI at Kingston 2014
87 (+3) H. Masakadza Zim 169* 27.09 249 v Ban at Harare 2013
88 (-2) Imran Khan Pak 163*! 30.40 163 v Aus at Abu Dhabi 2014
89 (-2) Bruce Martin NZ 162* 53.83 289 v Eng at Wellington 2013
90 ( - ) Rubel Hossain Ban 154* 78.79 161 v Zim at Harare 2013

All-rounders

Rank Player Team Points HS Rating
1 (+2) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 419! 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
2 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 357*/ 419 v WI at Mumbai 2013
3 (-1) V. Philander SA 348*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014
4 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 296 382 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2012
5 ( - ) M.Johnson Aus 281 384 v Eng at Cardiff 2009

* indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating

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