Teenager Mehedi Hasan has rocketed into 33rd position in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after bowling Bangladesh to its first-ever Test victory over England which earned the home side a 1-1 series draw in Mirpur on Sunday.
Mehedi, who won the player of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2016 award at the same venue eight months ago, returned match figures of 12 for 159, which has given him a lift of 28 positions. The off-spinner had entered the player rankings last week after taking seven for 138 on his debut in Chittagong.
Mehedi is now Bangladesh’s second highest-ranked Test bowler behind Shakib Al Hasan (15th). The 19-year-old looks strong to gain further points and can potentially break into the 20 as he is still in the qualification period. A bowler qualifies for a full rating after he has taken 100 wickets, while Mehedi has claimed 19 wickets in two Tests.
The other bowlers to improve their rankings following the Mirpur Test are England’s trio of Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali.
Woakes, who took three for 30 in the first innings, has moved up two places to 18th, Stokes has achieved a career-high ranking of 21st after moving up two places following match figures of five for 65, while Ali has gained two places and is now in 25th spot after figures of five for 57 and one for 60.
In what turned out to be a difficult Test for batsmen, England captain Alastair Cook has climbed one place to 11th following scores of 14 and 59, Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal has risen four places to 20th after scores of 104 and 40, Mominul Haque has lifted one place to 26th after contributing 66 and one, Shakib Al Hasan is now in 27th position after moving up one place following scores of 10 and 41, and Imrul Kayes has earned two spots and is now in 53rd position after chipping in with one and 78.
England’s Joe Root has dropped out of the top three. He has slipped two places to fifth following scores of 56 and one.
Bangladesh’s 108 runs victory in Mirpur has also earned the youngest of the 10 Test playing countries eight ranking points. This means it is now on 65 points, just two points behind eighth-ranked West Indies.
In contrast, fourth-ranked England has dropped to 105 points after conceding three points.
