Dubai [UAE], November 4 (ANI): Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has reclaimed his spot as the No.1 bowler in the world by overtaking South Africa left-armer Marco Jansen and surging to the top on the latest ICC Men's Test Bowling Rankings.
Starc returns to the position on the back of his nine-wicket match haul in the third and final ICC World Test Championship contest against South Africa in Cape Town, with the left-armer gaining one place to jump ahead of Jansen and regain the premier spot for Test bowlers.
Starc had claimed the No.1 crown for the first time in August when he ended the reign of India pacer Jasprit Bumrah, only for Jansen to take the mantle following his six wickets in the second Test for the Proteas in Gqeberha, as per ICC.
Jansen managed only three scalps in the Cape Town fixture, six fewer than Starc, and that saw the Australian pacer reclaim pole position and a new career-best ranking in the tight Test bowling rankings race.
There are two further South Africans inside the top 10 for Test bowlers, with spinner Simon Harmer the latest player to make big gains following his Player of the Match performance at Newlands, where he bowled the Proteas to victory and a series triumph with six wickets in Australia's second innings.
As a result, the off-spinner moved up nine places to seventh overall in the rankings for Test bowlers and one spot ahead of South Africa teammate Kagiso Rabada.
While Jansen lost the top spot for Test bowlers, he increased his lead at the top of the list for Test all-rounders by reaching a new career-high rating following his half-century in the third Test.
Teammates Wiaan Mulder (up one slot to third) and Harmer (up three spots to fifth) also make good ground in this category, while Aiden Markram (up one place to 11th), Mulder (up seven rungs to 17th) and Ryan Rickelton (up 25 spots to 23rd with a new career-best rating) all make eye-catching progress on the latest rankings for Test batters.
Australia will be buoyed by gains made on the rankings for Test batters by Cameron Green (up three places to equal 19th) and Alex Carey (up two rungs to equal 19th), while West Indies' right-hander Justin Greaves (up 12 spots to equal 38th and a new career-high rating) is the big mover following his side's victory over Bangladesh in the first Test in Mirpur.
The West Indies registered an impressive eight-wicket triumph, with Jomel Warrican (up six rungs to 30th for Test bowlers) and spinner Roston Chase (up eight spots to equal 23rd) for Test all-rounders also making ground in their best category.
The completion of the recent ODI tri-series in Pakistan saw plenty of change on the latest ODI rankings and it was a pair of pacers from the host nation that made the biggest impact, as skipper Shaheen Afridi (up one spot to fifth) and fellow quick Haris Rauf (up five places to 24th) both made good gains on the list for ODI bowlers.
Opener Fakhar Zaman (up nine rungs to 37th) was among the big movers on the updated rankings for ODI batters, with England opener Ben Duckett (up one slot to sixth) and Sri Lanka hard-hitter Pavan Rathnayake (up 20 places to 16th) also making ground in this category.
There is also plenty of movement in the updated T20I rankings, with India captain Shreyas Iyer among the biggest movers as he gained two spots to move to seventh overall for T20I batters following his side's series triumph in New Zealand.
New Zealand all-rounder Glenn Phillips (up 13 places to 24th) also climbed on the list for T20I batters, while teammates Mitchell Santner (up two rungs to fifth) and Jacob Duffy (up 23 slots to 23rd) were among the movers on the updated rankings for T20I bowlers.
Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzai also made his move up the rankings for T20I all-rounders as he gained three spots to move to third overall following his Player of the Series heroics during a recent series triumph over Zimbabwe in the UAE. (ANI)
ICC Rankings: Mitchell Starc regains top Test bowlers' ranking, Iyer moves to 7th among T20I batters
