Starc dethrones Bumrah to claim No. 1 Test ranking

Photo : Collected

Jasprit Bumrah’s tenure as the No.1 ranked Test bowler is over as Australia pacer Mitchell Starc claimed the premier position for the first time in his illustrious career on the back of his dominant performance against Bangladesh.

Bumrah first rose to the top back in February of 2024 and the right-armer has maintained his spot as the No.1 ranked Test bowler for much of the last two years.

But his absence from India’s ongoing ICC World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka, coupled with Starc’s recent Player of the Series heroics against Bangladesh has seen a significant change at the top of the ICC Men’s Test Bowler Rankings.

Starc collected 10 wickets for the match in the second Test against Bangladesh in Mackay and that proved enough to catapult the 36-year-old up two places and past Bumrah and New Zealand pacer Matt Henry and into the prized position for the very first time in his career.

The Australian has been inside the top 10 for much of his 15-year Test career and recently entered the top three on the back of some strong efforts against England in the Ashes series towards the end of last year, but this is the first time he has risen all the way to the top.

Bumrah drops to second and Henry to third due to Starc’s rise, while his Australian teammate Pat Cummins jumps one place to fourth on the same list for Test bowlers following his six wickets for the match during the clash against Bangladesh and spinner Nathan Lyon rises two spots to 10th.

There are also gains on the rankings for Test bowlers for England duo Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue following their match-winning efforts against Pakistan in the first Test in Headingley.

The pair combined for 16 wickets across the one-sided contest in Leeds, with Robinson jumping 15 spots to 11th place as Tongue improves 16 rungs to 17th overall.

The top of the Test batter rankings remains the same, with England duo Harry Brook (first) and Joe Root (second) holding a slender advantage over Australia pair Steve Smith (third) and Travis Head (fourth).

The big mover inside the top 10 is India’s Rishabh Pant, with the left-hander gaining six spots to rise to equal seventh following his quickfire half-century in the second innings of his side’s victory over Sri Lanka in the first Test in Galle.

Outside the top 10 there are gains on the list for Test batters for Australia all-rounder Cameron Green (up nine spots to 21st), Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva (up two places to equal 22nd), Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique (up seven rungs to equal 27th) and India right-hander KL Rahul (up five slots to 30th).

It’s also status quo on the updated rankings for Test all-rounders as India veteran Ravindra Jadeja maintains his place in the No.1 spot, as Cummins (up one spot to seventh), Green (up one place to equal 17th) and Robinson (up five rungs to 23rd) all make small gains.