India opener Mayank Agarwal and New Zealand spinner Ajaz Patel have made huge progress in the ICC Test Player Rankings after outstanding performances in the second Test of their ICC World Test Championship series in Mumbai.
On the ICC ODI Team Rankings, No.1 ranked Australia has moved up from 118 points to 120 points, while New Zealand has dropped behind India in fourth position. New Zealand had started the series on 112 points, but the 3-0 defeat has meant it has dropped to 109 points.
Firing the first salvo ahead of high profile Asia Cup clash against arch-rivals India, Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson on Thursday termed left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz as the "best spinner in world cricket".
The competition at the top promises to gain momentum as World No 2 Ben Stokes has also made huge gains to attain a career-best tally of 431 points, narrowing the lead from 66 to 54 points.
Harmanpreet Kaur climbed to the joint ninth spot while opener Smriti Mandhana remained fourth in the latest ICC Women's ODI rankings
The ICC on Thursday came under attack for its "baffling" all-time Test player rankings which had no place for champion batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara in the top 20 but the game's governing body made it clear that the list did not rank players in terms of true greatness.
The ICC has rated Chennai's M A Chidambaram Stadium pitch, used for India's Test match against Bangladesh in September, as 'very good'
India have a chance to become the sole No 1 team, a position currently shared with South Africa, in the ICC ODI rankings if the hosts blank West Indies 5-0 in the series starting October 8 in Kochi.
Dhoni moves to fourth in ODI rankings India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn't been dismissed so far in the Asia Cup, having scored 135 runs in two unbeaten innings. This effort moved him up five places in the ODI batting rankings to fourth position, level with Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting of Australia.
India's decorated off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin failed to fetch any buyers for himself and went unsold in the ILT20 Season 4 auction on Wednesday.
England batsman Joe Root and Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath have moved up to second positions in their respective ICC Test player rankings but failed to displace top-ranked batsman Steve Smith and bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.
India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, are coming into the showpiece event on the back of a hard-fought ODI series loss to Australia, where opener Smriti Mandhana slammed two back-to-back centuries and the spinners, led by Deepti Sharma, giving a good account of themselves.
'Should a player with such deep understanding of the ODI format be removed from captaincy when neither age nor performance has dimmed his brilliance?', asks veteran cricket correspondent K R Nayar.
With a five-match T20I series in October-November in Australia, five T20Is against South Africa at home in December and five T20Is against New Zealand at home in January 2026, Team India will now look to test itself, its combinations and youngsters against some of the world's best T20I teams ahead of the T20 WC 2026, which will start in early 2026.
Former captain Heather Knight was on Thursday named in a 15-member England squad for the upcoming ICC Women's World Cup and the duo of Sarah Glenn and Danni Wyatt-Hodge also returned to the side after missing the recent series against India.
ICC Chairman Shashank Manohar has congratulated the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the country's 500th Test, which will be played against New Zealand in Kanpur from Thursday. "This is a huge milestone in the history of Indian cricket. India has been a very important member of the ICC with its rich heritage and great following for the game," Manohar said. "India has produced world-class players who have entertained fans the world over. I congratulate the BCCI on this historic occasion and I'd like to thank the BCCI for their kind invitation to share in the celebration. The ICC wish its team all the best for this 500th Test and in the years to come," he added.
Ajinkya Rahane has become India's highest-ranked Test batsman in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings after scoring two centuries in the 337 runs victory over South Africa in the fourth and final Test, at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, which gave the home side a 3-0 series triumph.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni returned to the top five in the latest ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen following a consistent performance with the bat in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Pakistan.
With 794 points, pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the top-ranked Indian bowler at sixth place, while Kohli was the top-ranked batsmen.
Opener Shubman Gill attained a career-best second position and is the highest-ranked among three India players who are now in the top 10.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur on Thursday informed that star Test skipper Virat Kohli failed to make it to the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Test Team because voting happened in September and he made all the runs after that month. Despite being adjudged as the Man-of-the-Series with 655 runs in the recently concluded five-match series against England which the World No. 1 Test team won 4-0, Kohli missed a berth in the ICC Test team of the year 2016.
The Test batting chart is headed by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (915 points), followed by England captain Joe Root (900) while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson (879) dislodged Steve Smith (877) from the No. 3 slot.
India's R Ashwin back in top-10 in ICC's ODI bowling rankings
Under Rohit Sharma, India won the 2018 and 2023 ODI Asia Cup, runners-up position in the 2023 World Cup at home and triumphed in the the ICC Champions Trophy in March.
In the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second following his six wickets against India in the fourth Test at MCG.
Currently placed at number three behind South Africa and Australia, India have an opportunity to jump to the top in the ICC ODI team rankings if they win the upcoming five-match one-day series against Sri Lanka 4-1 or better.
Indian One-day captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is within touching distance of regaining the top spot in the ICC ODI Player Rankings after his consistent show with the bat in the just-concluded Asia Cup helped him jump two spots in the chart.
Zaheer Khan has jumped ten places to 27th position in the latest ODI Player Rankings.
The young India opener, who scored 206 and 36 in the drawn third Test against Australia, rocketed 11 places to 18th in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. He started the series in 37th position but climbed 18 places after three Tests in which he has scored 463 runs.
Indian batter Suryakumar continued to hold onto the top position on the latest ICC T20I Rankings.
India captain Dravid dropped out of the batting top 10, down three places to 12th.
India dominates ICC Test Rankings
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has reclaimed the No 1 position in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen for the fourth time in his career after brilliant knocks in the second Test against New Zealand. The Sri Lanka captain followed up his half-century in the first innings with an exquisite 109 his 20th Test century to reclaim the top position from India's Gautam Gambhir.
Hardik Pandya reclaims top spot among T20I all-rounders, Tilak Varma jumps 69 places to third among batters
Gautam Gambhir is the first India batsman in over four years to head the batting rankings after a double failure by Mohammad Yousuf saw the Pakistan ace drop out of the top three in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has attained a career-best second position after notching two half-centuries in the final Test series against England in Karachi.
South Africa batsman Hashim Amla moved within four ratings points of becoming the number-one ranked batsman in the Reliance ICC Test Player Rankings for Test batsmen, which were released on Tuesday, at the end of the series between Australia and South Africa.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni continued to top the one-day batsmen chart with his deputy Yuvraj Singh occupying the second position in the the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings released on Wednesday.
India's master batsman Sachin Tendulkar moved into third position in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen, which were released on Wednesday. The 37-year-old from Mumbai scored 98 and 38 in the Mohali Test, which India won by one-wicket on Tuesday.
