Pujara, Moeen big winners in rankings

The stunning form of India's Cheteshwar Pujara has seen him climb into the top three of the official Test batting rankings, narrowly behind England captain Joe Root.

Australia captain Steve Smith still retains a clear lead in batting charts of the ICC player rankings – the leaderboard of which is displayed below – but vice-captain David Warner has been overtaken while Australia has been inactive and has slid to tenth.

That is the lowest ranking Warner has had since last August's Test series defeat by Sri Lanka, but the opener will have the chance to improve that with a two-Test series against Bangladesh that begins later this month.

England allrounder Moeen Ali, the hero of the country's first home Test series win against South Africa since 1998, has risen to career high rankings in batting and bowling.

He is now the fourth-highest ranked in the allrounder category that is dominated by spin bowlers, with Ravi Jadeja taking the top ranking ahead of Bangladesh's Shakib al Hasan and Ravi Ashwin.

Moeen's rise comes after he became the first player to score 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four-Test series.

Jadeja scored an unbeaten 70 and took seven wickets – including five in the second innings – in India's innings and 53-run win against Sri Lanka in Colombo last weekend.

England seamer James Anderson moved up to second on the Test bowler rankings behind Jadeja, who will miss the third Test against Sri Lanka starting Thursday after being suspended by the ICC.

Anderson moved ahead of Ravi Ashwin with returns of 4-38 and 3-16 in England's 177-run win against South Africa at Old Trafford, where the bowler ran in from the newly renamed James Anderson End.

Josh Hazlewood remains fourth-ranked, and is the only Australian bowler in the top ten.

India batsmen Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have made notable movements after their centuries in the Colombo Test helped India take a 2-0 lead in the three-Test series. Pujara’s 133 in his 50th Test helped him to a career-high 888 ranking points, enough for third position behind Root's 891 points, while Rahane's knock of 132 moved him from 11th to sixth.

Rahane sits just behind his captain Virat Kohli who continued his slide in ranking points, if not position, from his career high against Bangladesh earlier this year.

Kohli did break a string of low scores against Australia with a century in the Galle Test against Sri Lanka but added just 13 in Colombo where five of the top seven scored at least 50.

Top 10 batsmen

1. Steve Smith (Australia) – 941 points

2. Joe Root (England) – 891

3. Cheteshwar Pujara (India) – 888

4. Kane Williamson (New Zealand) – 880 

5. Virat Kohli (India) – 813 

6. Ajinkya Rahane (India) – 776

7. Jonny Bairstow (England) – 772

8. Azhar Ali (Pakistan) – 769       

9. Hashim Amla (South Africa) – 764

10. David Warner (Australia) – 759        

Top 10 bowlers

1. Ravindra Jadeja (India) – 893

2. Jimmy Anderson (England) – 860

3. Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 842

4. Josh Hazlewood (Australia) – 826

5. Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka) – 817

6. Kagiso Rabada (South Africa) – 785

7. Stuart Broad (England) – 775

8. Dale Steyn (South Africa) – 763

9. Vernon Philander (South Africa) – 751

10. Neil Wagner (New Zealand) – 745

Top 5 allrounders

1. Ravindra Jadeja (India) – 438

2. Shakib al Hasan (Bangladesh) – 431

3. Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 418

4. Moeen Ali (England) – 409

5. Ben Stokes (England) – 360