Published 16:43 IST, December 20th 2020
ICC Test Rankings: Hazelwood jumps 4 places, Cummins & Smith sit atop post Adelaide win
Hazlewood picked up only one wicket in the first innings, however, he wreaked complete havoc in the second innings as he grabbed a fifer off just five overs
After a match-winning performance against India in the first match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Josh Hazlewood has now jumped four places on the ICC Test Rankings for Bowling. The Australian speedster now sits at the fifth place, courtesy of his heroics against India at the Adelaide where he teamed up with Pat Cummins to rattle the Indian batting lineup. Hazlewood picked up only one wicket in the first innings, however, he wreaked complete havoc in the second innings as he grabbed a fifer off just five overs.
The top four players on the Test Rankings for bowling remain unchanged as Pat Cummins sits atop the table with 910 points in his bag. Second-placed Stuart Broad will have a lot of catching up to do if he intends to displace Cummins as he lags behind by 65 points. The third and fourth place has been occupied by Kiwi pacers Neil Wagner and Tim Southee, respectively.
The only positive for India from the Adelaide Test is Ravi Ashwin, who jumped a place to 9th position after bagging three wickets. Mitchell Starc's forgettable outing in Adelaide has seen him slip down a place to the 7th spot on the rankings.
In the ICC Test rankings for Batting, Cheteshwar Pujara has slipped down a position to the eighth spot with 755 points whereas Indian skipper Virat Kohli moved two points closer to table-topper Steve Smith. While Smith has 901 points, Kohli has got 888 points in his bag and Kane Williamson follows the Indian with 877 points.
Australia thrash India at Adelaide
Team India created an unwanted record after their humiliating batting performance against Australia in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday where neither of the batsmen even managed to reach double figures and were eventually restricted to 36/9. India have now registered their lowest score in the game's longest format. Their previous lowest score in Test cricket was against England at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's back in June 1974. India were expected to see off the new ball and build their innings in the afternoon session of Day 3, but that was not to be as Australia's new-ball bowlers had other plans which they executed perfectly.
Pat Cummins' triggered the collapse starting with Bumrah's wicket and Hazlewood chipped in as Australia dominated the Indian batting comprising of stalwarts Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli completely. Chasing a paltry target of 90, openers Matthew Wade and Joe Burns led the hosts to comfortable win as the Tim Paine-led side won their eighth successive pink-ball Test match.
Updated 16:43 IST, December 20th 2020