India slide to No. 7 in Test rankings

New Zealand jumped to fifth place on the International Cricket Council’s Test rankings following a 2-0 sweep of Sri Lanka at home, while India dropped to seventh after the 0-2 loss to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that concluded in Sydney.

With 99 rating points, New Zealand were one spot ahead of Sri Lanka while Australia were five points behind South Africa, who continued to top the charts with 124 points following their comprehensive 2-0 series win over West Indies at home last week.

England, who haven’t played Test cricket since their 3-0 series win over India at home in September, were placed third and Pakistan, who finished an exhaustive season against Australia and New Zealand in the United Arab Emirates, were placed fourth.

Meanwhile Kumar Sangakkara returned to the top of the batting charts following a scintillating double century, albeit in a losing cause, against New Zealand in Wellington last week. Sangakkara displaced South Africa’s AB de Villiers at the top.

Steve Smith, the Australia captain, leap-frogged Angelo Mathews to reach a career-high fourth position following his Bradmanesque run against India. Smith ended the four-Test series with 769 runs including four centuries. Virat Kohli, India’s new Test captain, who scored four centuries to finish the series with 692 runs, moved three places to No. 12.

The biggest gainer was Kane Williamson, who jumped seven places to a career-best ranking of seventh following scores of 69 and 242 not out in New Zealand’s come-from-behind 193-run win at the Basin Reserve last week. In achieving his highest Test score, Williamson also crossed the 3000-run mark in his 39th Test.

Among the bowlers, Trent Boult jumped one place to No. 6 with figures of 4 for 130 against Sri Lanka, while Mohammad Shami (31), Mitchell Starc (33) and Josh Hazlewood (46) also moved up the charts. The list is topped by Dale Steyn, who is 79 points ahead of Australia’s Ryan Harris, who has 826 points. Mitchell Johnson, who missed the Sydney Test due to a hamstring strain, continued to occupy the fifth spot.

Meanwhile, R Ashwin’s half-century and five wickets in Sydney meant he remained at No. 3 in the allrounders list that is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. Vernon Philander, Stuart Broad and Johnson are the other occupants in the top five.