Indian seamer Mohammed Siraj attained his career-best rankings in Tests following his Oval game heroics against England recently. Returning with nine wickets in the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, including a match-winning five-for in the second innings, Siraj jumped 12 places to sit in the 15th spot. His bowling partner Prasidh Krishna, who was also among the wickets in the London Test, attained his career-best 59th position in Tests. Krishna and Siraj, however, were only the second Indian bowling pair to pick four or more wickets in each innings of a Test, a feat earlier accomplished by spinners Bishan Bedi and Erapalli Prasanna against Australia in Delhi in 1969.
On the other hand, ace Indian quick, Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the fifth Test due to niggle, continues to lead the Test rankings for the bowlers, sitting in the first place with 889 points. Although he played three Tests, as he was supposed to as part of his workload management, throwing nearly 120 overs while picking 14 wickets, Siraj, who received applause for being the workhorse, bowled 185.3 overs across five Tests, the most by any bowler.
Meanwhile, Siraj hogged all the limelight on the final day of the Oval Test. With England needing just 35 runs to win and four wickets remaining, they were the favourites to take the game home inside the first hour. Siraj, however, had other plans. He first removed England’s last recognised batter, Jamie Smith, in his first over of the day before trapping the all-rounder Jamie Overton in front of the wickets.
Krishna then bowled bowler Josh Tongue, leaving England with no option but to send injured Chris Woakes out to bat with just one hand. He, alongside Gus Atkinson, stitched a brief stand before Siraj’s searing Yorker broke his off stump, and with that, England’s hope of winning the series 3-1. As a result of India’s win at the Oval, the five-match series ended 2-2.
Jaiswal back in top five
Following his stunning hundred in the final Test, his second of the series, Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal rose three spots to the fifth position for batters in Tests. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who missed the final Test due to a fractured right toe, is the only Indian, barring Jaiswal, in the top ten.
Meanwhile, England veteran and batting great Joe Root continues to sit in the first position, with his batting partner and fellow Oval Test centurion, Harry Brook, second on the list.