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The figures of 6 for 72 in the first innings of Cape Town Test and 3 for 65 in the second innings helped Starc pip South Africa’s Marco Jansen and reclaim the No. 1 position.
Mitchell Starc becomes world No 1 Test bowler. (Picture Credit: AP)
Left-arm Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has returned to the No. 1 position in the ICC Test bowler rankings. The 36-year-old seamer led Australia’s pace attack in the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town last week and picked up six wickets in the first innings. The figures of 6 for 72 runs on Day 1 and 3 wickets for 65 runs in the second innings helped Starc pip South Africa’s Marco Jansen and reclaim the No. 1 position.
The South African fast-bowling all-rounder became the world No. 1 Test bowler last week after picking up a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the second Test against Australia at St George’s Park in Gqeberha.
In the latest ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday, Starc jumped one place, while Jansen and Matt Henry dropped one place each. However, South African spinner Simon Harmer, who picked up 6 wickets for 16 runs in the second innings of the Cape Town Test, jumped nine places to become the new world No. 7 Test bowler. Harmer has 817 rating points to his credit, which is a career-best for him.
Starc has also achieved his career-best tally of 881 rating points.
The other major gainer in the Test bowling rankings is West Indies spinner Jomel Warrican. Warrican dismissed a total of nine Bangladeshi batters across two innings in the first Test to gain six places in the ICC Test bowling rankings (now 30th).
In the ODI bowling rankings, New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner has replaced Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed as the No. 3 bowler, while Shaheen Shah Afridi has swapped places with Kuldeep Yadav. Kuldeep is now in sixth place, whereas Shaheen has moved to fifth position.
Santner also gained two places in the T20I bowling rankings after impressive performances in the home series against India. He is now the new world No. 5 T20I bowler.
In the ICC Test batting rankings, South Africa’s Test captain Temba Bavuma dropped two places to fourth, while Joe Root and Travis Head gained one place each to reach second and third positions, respectively.
In the second innings of the third Test at Newlands, Ryan Rickelton scored a century for the Proteas, which helped him gain 25 places and reach 23rd position in the rankings.
Meanwhile, Wiaan Mulder has moved to 17th position after jumping seven places. Like Rickelton, he also scored a century in the second innings of the third Test in Cape Town.
Pavan Rathnayake of Sri Lanka was the best batter in the ODI tri-series in Pakistan last month, and his 400-plus run tally in five matches has helped him rise 20 places to become the world No. 16 ODI batter.
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Ask News18Mitchell Starc reclaimed the No. 1 position in the ICC Test bowler rankings after leading Australia’s pace attack against South Africa in Cape Town, where he picked up six wickets in the first innings and three wickets in the second innings.
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Harshit Bisht is a sports journalist at CNN-News18, where he has been covering cricket, football, and major sporting events from around the world since July 1, 2024. Driven by a passion for storytelli…Read More
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