Career-best form has propelled Australian left-arm quick Mitchell Starc to the summit of the ICC Test bowling rankings for the very first time. The 36-year-old put on a dominant display in MacKay, tearing through Bangladesh with figures of 6/12 and 4/39 to secure an innings-and-51-run victory in the second World Test Championship fixture.
Bumrah's reign ends, Starc is now the new no.1 Test bowler
Sweeping both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series honors, Starc eclipsed New Zealand's Matt Henry and India's Jasprit Bumrah to claim the top spot with a 10-point lead.
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This shift ends Bumrah’s two-month stint at the peak, though the Indian spearhead still holds a historic legacy. Having spent 697 cumulative days as the world's premier Test bowler—the 14th-longest stretch in cricket history and the highest ever by an Indian player—Bumrah was unable to defend his ranking after being sidelined from the ongoing Sri Lanka series due to injury.
Meanwhile, England's Ollie Robinson made massive strides up the rankings following an impressive performance in Leeds. Spearheading England's innings-and-103-run triumph over Pakistan in their series opener, Robinson picked up match figures of 5/51 and 3/39. His Player of the Match effort rewarded him with a dramatic 15-place surge, placing him just outside the top ten in 11th position.
A fiery eight-wicket display at Headingley saw England's Josh Tongue leap 16 spots up to 17th, while Indian spinner Manav Suthar surged 28 places to a career-high 48th following a match-winning 10-wicket haul in Galle against Sri Lanka. Despite that defeat, Sri Lanka’s bowling attack saw Asitha Fernando and Prabath Jayasuriya both climb five ranks, settling at 15th and 16th respectively. Several other bowlers also made noteworthy moves, including Australia's Nathan Lyon breaking into the top ten at 10th, Pakistan's Ali Usman jumping 30 places to 67th, England's Jofra Archer rising to joint-38th, India's Prasidh Krishna reaching 53rd, and Bangladesh's Shoriful Islam climbing to 57th.
Rishabh Pant makes big gain
In the Test batting list, Harry Brook solidified his status as the world's top-ranked batter, extending his lead over second-placed teammate Joe Root to 24 rating points after scoring 90 in Leeds to Root's 66. Meanwhile, a strong dual-innings performance of 39 and 66 in Galle vaulted Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant six spots up to seventh, marking his return to the top ten after a year-long absence.