Starc Back on Top of Test Bowling Rankings as Iyer Climbs to Seventh in T20Is

Dubai: Mitchell Starc is back at the top of the ICC Test bowling rankings. The Australian left-arm fast bowler reclaimed the No. 1 position in the latest update released on Wednesday, climbing one place to overtake South Africa’s Marco Jansen after his nine-wicket match haul in the third and final Test at Cape Town. Starc’s performance in the series decider also took him to a new career-best rating of 881. It is the second time he has held the top spot: he first reached No. 1 in August, when he ended Jasprit Bumrah’s reign, only for Jansen to take the mantle after taking six wickets in the second Test at Gqeberha. Cape Town has now swung the lead back to Starc. Jansen did not leave the update empty-handed. Despite losing the bowling lead, he strengthened his position at the top of the Test all-rounders’ rankings, reaching a career-high rating after scoring a half-century in the third Test. South Africa’s Simon Harmer was another big mover among the bowlers, jumping nine places to seventh in the Test bowling list after his match-winning performance at Newlands, where he claimed six wickets in Australia’s second innings. That lift took Harmer one spot ahead of his South Africa team-mate Kagiso Rabada. There was movement in the batting list too. South Africa’s Aiden Markram rose one place to 11th, while Wiaan Mulder gained seven positions to reach 17th, reflecting a series in which South Africa’s batters kept finding ways to stay in games even as Australia closed out the series. The T20I rankings brought good news for India. Captain Shreyas Iyer moved up two places to seventh among T20I batters following India’s series triumph in New Zealand, with his 50 against New Zealand in Hamilton among the innings behind the rise. New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips climbed 13 places to 24th, and Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza rose 12 places to 41st, while among the bowlers New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner climbed two places to fifth and Jacob Duffy made a significant jump of 23 positions to 23rd. For Starc, the return to No. 1 is a reward for a series in which his pace and control set the tone for Australia’s attack. He was rested from Australia’s white-ball series against England, but in Test cricket he remains the benchmark — and with a career-best rating to his name, the gap at the top is his to defend in Australia’s next red-ball assignment.