Sri Lanka sent a strong message to the cricketing world as all six of its players achieved career-best ratings in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings following their impressive performances in England.
Recently, the Sri Lankan cricket team achieved its first ever Test match win against England in England. The Islanders lost the three-match Test series 2-1 against England but were exceptional in the series.
Lanka defeated England by eight wickets in the third and final game at The Oval to create history, and their all-round performance helped them win big in the latest ICC Test Rankings.
Six Sri Lankan players reach career-high ICC Test rankings after historic win over England
Lankan Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva led from the front with an important knock of 69 runs in the first innings. His fine form propelled him to a career-best 13th position in the ICC Test batsmen rankings, which is the highest among all Sri Lankan batsmen at present.
De Silva has become the highest-ranked Sri Lankan batsman in Test cricket. Meanwhile, dynamic middle-order player Kamindu Mendis and opener Pathum Nissanka also made significant inroads into the ICC Test batsmen rankings.
Mendis jumped six places to 19th thanks to his crucial half-century in the final Test, while superb 64 and 127* have propelled Nissanka an impressive 42 places to 39th in the latest rankings.
Well, England’s batsmen suffered setbacks, with only Joe Root remaining at the top in the latest ICC Test batsmen rankings. Harry Brook dropped to 12th, but stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s first-innings century earned him a seven-place rise, and he is now tied for 27th in the rankings.
Jamie Smith also moved up, climbing six places to 30th after his quickfire half-century in the second innings of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka. Among the bowlers, Sri Lanka’s Vishwa Fernando moved up 13 places to 31st after his five-wicket haul against England.
Lahiru Kumara moved up 10 places to 32nd position, while Milan Rathnayake made a spectacular jump of 26 places to reach 84th in the latest bowlers rankings. England’s Olly Stone gained 13 places to reach 74th position following his three-wicket haul in the first innings at The Oval.
Rohit Sharma becomes the top Indian batsman in the ICC Test Players Rankings
On the other hand, Indian captain Rohit Sharma, young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and batting maestro Virat Kohli have made a jump to reach the fifth, sixth and seventh positions in the latest ICC batsmen rankings. Rohit is the top Indian batsman in the latest Test rankings.
In the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin remained the highest-ranked Test player while Jasprit Bumrah’s position as the joint-second Test player alongside Josh Hazlewood remained intact in the latest Test rankings announced by the ICC on Wednesday.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin remain the top two players in the updated Test rankings. Notably, all these top-class players will be in action in the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which begins on September 19 in Chennai.
