Warner, Johnson on the rise

David Warner and Mitchell Johnson were the two Australian players to enhance their ICC Player Rankings following Australia’s 221-run defeat in the opening Test against Pakistan.

The result also means Australia cannot regain the world No.1 ranking during the current two-Test series.  

After his outstanding first-innings 133 – his third Test century in as many innings – Warner climbs one place into fourth position, just 12 rankings points behind West Indies veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Protea AB de Villiers retain first and second position respectively.

Johnson remained stable in fourth position on the bowling charts, but his classy innings of 37 and 61 in Dubai have seen him jump England’s Stuart Broad to move into fourth position in the allrounders list.

Australia captain Michael Clarke (10th) and off-spinner Nathan Lyon (21st) both slipped three places in the batting and bowling categories respectively.

Plenty of Pakistanis meanwhile, have made significant strides up the rankings charts.

Younis Khan, who scored twin hundreds to become Pakistan’s most successful Test batsman in terms of centuries scored (26), has gained four places and claims seventh position to be his country’s highest-ranked batsman.

Pakistan wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and opener Ahmed Shehzad, who scored 109 and 131 respectively, have also made impressive gains.

Sarfraz, whose innings of 109 helped Pakistan score 454 in their first innings, has risen 12 places to 38th, while Shehzad’s contribution of 131 in the second innings that allowed the home side to set Australia a victory target of 438, has rocketed up 14 places to 52nd.

Among the Pakistan bowlers, spin pair Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah have also stormed up the charts.

Zulfiqar, who returned match figures of 7-155, has jumped 46 places to claim 51st spot, while Yasir has entered in 62nd place following figures of 3-66 and 4-50.

In order to regain the mantle as the No.1 Test nation, Australia had to win the series against Pakistan two-nil. Now, their best series result can be a one-all draw, which will keep them in second position but three points behind South Africa.

If Pakistan win the second Test, they will leapfrog England, Sri Lanka and India into third position. A one-all draw will mean it will finish in fifth place on 99 ratings points – three ahead of India and two behind fourth-ranked Sri Lanka.

Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 27 October, after Dubai Test)

Batsmen

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Bowlers

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Allrounders

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* 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