Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins strengthened his position at the top of the ICC Test Rankings in the latest update.
The Test rankings were updated after Australia’s eight wicket victory in the first Border-Gavaskar series match against India in Adelaide.
Cummins soars on seven-wicket match haul
Cummins took seven wickets in the match to gain six points and move from 904 to 910, which is a comfortable lead over Stuart Broad in second place.
Another Aussie quick, Josh Hazelwood, returned astonishing figures of 5/8 in India’s second innings which helped him gain four spots and move back into the top five with 805 points, the first time since March 2018.
With four wickets in Australia’s first innings, India spinner Ravi Ashwin has overtaken Jasprit Bumrah as the country’s top-ranked bowler, currently occupying ninth place.
Virat Kohli managed to fractionally close the gap on Steve Smith at the top of the Test Rankings for batsmen. Kohli cut the gap from 25 points to 13 points thanks to a first innings knock of 74 which enabled him to gain two points, whereas Smith lost 10 points in the table after knocks of 1 and 1*.
Australia’s South African-born middle order stalwart Marnus Labuschagne’s put in digs of 47 and 6 but in such a low-scoring match those efforts have pushed him to a career-best 839 points.
Captain Tim Paine’s player-of-the-match innings of 73 not out lifted him to a career-best 33rd place with 592 points. His previous best was 45th in December of 2018.
Joe Burns vindicated selectors faith with an unbeaten 51 in the fourth innings at Adelaide that saw him move into 48th place. This is the first time Burns has been in the top 50 since 2016.
Test Player Rankings (as of 19 December, after the Australia vs India Pink-ball Test in Adelaide)
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Steve Smith | Aus | 911 | 62.84 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Virat Kohli | India | 888 | 53.41 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 877 | 52.55 | 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Marnus Labuschagne | Aus | 839*! | 60.48 | 839 v India at Adelaide 2020 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Babar Azam | Pak | 797 | 45.44 | 800 v Ban at Rawalpindi 2020 |
| 6 | ( – ) | David Warner | Aus | 793 | 48.94 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 7 | (+1) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 760 | 37.84 | 827 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 8 | (-1) | Cheteshwar Pujara | India | 755 | 48.22 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 9 | ( – ) | Joe Root | Eng | 738 | 47.99 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 10 | ( +1 ) | Tom Latham | NZ | 724 | 42.65 | 733 v WI at Hamilton 2020 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 910 | 21.26 | 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 845 | 27.65 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 840 | 26.33 | 859 v Aus at Melbourne 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Tim Southee | NZ | 825! | 28.58 | 825 v WI at Wellington 2020 |
| 5 | (+4) | Josh Hazlewood | Aus | 805 | 25.69 | 864 v India at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 6 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 802 | 22.95 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 7 | ( – ) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 800 | 26.78 | 807 v NZ at Perth 2019 |
| 8 | ( – ) | James Anderson | Eng | 781 | 26.79 | 903 v India at Lord’s 2018 |
| 9 | (+1) | R Ashwin | India | 777 | 25.27 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
| 10 | (+1) | Jason Holder | WI | 753 | 27.94 | 862 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 446 | 497 v WI at Old Trafford 2020 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | WI | 423 | 485 v Eng at Southampton 2020 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Ravindra Jadeja | India | 389 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 366 | 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 301 | 346 v India at Pune 2017 |
*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
