ICC Rankings 2023: Virat makes a comeback, Ashwin & Axar make huge gains

After India’s 2-1 series victory over Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy that took place just a few days ago, a number of Indian cricketers, including Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel, have made significant advancements in the ICC Test rankings. Driving the way is Virat Kohli, who after a hole of more than three years, scored his most first Test century and was hence moved seven spots to be positioned No. 13 out of the total. 

At one time, the No. After a string of poor performances, Kohli, the No. 1 batter in all formats, dropped out of the Top-10 in July of last year. While he still hasn’t broken into the Top 10, his 186-run outing for Indian fans is hopefully a sign of things to come.

Being India’s highest and overall second-highest BGT 2023 run-getter resulted in a seven-place jump

He is only ahead of Rohit Sharma (10th) and Rishabh Pant (5th), two Indians. Only Usman Khawaja had more runs in the series than Kohli did. 

Even though Kohli didn’t score a lot, the former India captain showed signs of being free-spirited throughout the series. After a 44-run innings in Delhi, which many thought was his best performance in a long time, he held up one end in the series decider. India took the lead and batted out Australia in 1205 days thanks to Kohli’s 28th Test century.

Ashwin, on the other hand, established himself as the sole No. 1 after supplanting James Anderson at the top, the No. 1 bowler

Ashwin and Anderson were selected as the joint No. 1 contenders after a pitched battle. One of the highest-ranked ICC Test bowlers, his 32nd five-wicket haul in Ahmedabad propelled him to 869 points, 10 points ahead of the legendary England pacer. 

Ashwin, with 26 wickets in the series was pronounced the Player of the Series, imparting the distinctions to turn accomplice Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin scored two 5-wicket hauls in the series, 5/37 in Nagpur and 6/91 in Ahmedabad, in addition to four 3-wicket hauls. utter dominance.

Ravichandran Ashwin regains No. 1 spot for Test bowlers
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Axar, like Kohli and Ashwin, was lavishly rewarded for enjoying a memorable series. Although the left-arm spinner only took two wickets, his batting, in which he scored 264 runs, including three half-centuries, propelled him up eight spots to number 44 on the list of Test batters. In the first Test, Axar scored a career-high 84 runs, and in the second, he scored 74 runs in Delhi to help India secure comprehensive victories. Both of these performances came at crucial points in the match when his team was most in need of them. 

As if that weren’t enough evidence of how far Axar’s batting has come, the all-rounder hit an amusing 79 against his hometown of Ahmedabad, providing Kohli with company for a massive 262-run partnership.

Australia also got a boost from the recognition given to Usman Khawaja, Cameron Green, and Travis Head for their performances. Khawaja, who topped the list with 333 runs, moved up two spots to be ranked seventh. All-rounder Cameron Green, who scored his first Test century, moved up 11 spots to be ranked 26th, a career high. In contrast, Travis Head remained at fifth place.