Ashwin dethrones Steyn as No.1 bowler

Star India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been crowned the top-ranked Test bowler in the world by the International Cricket Council.

Ashwin has moved from third to first in the latest ICC Test rankings, ahead of South Africa's Dale Steyn and England's Jimmy Anderson to be 22 points clear at the top of the standings.

It comes after Ashwin's player-of-the-series performance in India's recent series sweep of New Zealand, which included 13 wickets in the final Test in Indore.

Ashwin claimed 27 wickets for the series to sit on 220 career wickets, the most by any man in history after 39 Tests.

Ashwin, who was ranked the No.1 bowler in July this year, has moved to a career-high of 900 rankings points, making him just the sixth man this century to reach that mark after Steyn, Vernon Philander, Shaun Pollock, Glenn McGrath and Muthiah Muralidaran.

Mitchell Starc is the only Australian in the Top 10 bowling rankings, currently sitting eighth.

Australia's Steve Smith remains the No.1 ranked batsman, while NZ skipper Kane Williamson has dropped two places to fifth after a below-par series by his lofty standards.

India's Ajinkya Rahane has moved up five places to a career-best ranking of sixth after his century in Indore, while teammates Cheteshwar Pujara (up one spot to 14th) and Virat Kohli (up four places to 16th) also gained ground after celebrating milestones in the third Test.

Pakistan's Younis Khan (No.4 in batting) and Yasir Shah (No.6 in bowling) both have a chance to make up ground in the top 10 when their Test series against the West Indies in the UAE gets underway on Thursday, although Younis is set to miss the first Test in Dubai due to illness.

ICC Test Batting Rankings

ICC Test Bowling Rankings