De Silva, Mendis gain big in ICC Test rankings after Sylhet twin tons

NEW DELHI: Sri Lanka batters Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis have made huge gain in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings after both the batters notched twin centuries in the first Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh in Sylhet to help their side score a comprehensive 328-run victory.

De Silva has moved up 15 spots to a career-best 14th position while Mendis has re-entered the rankings in joint-64th position after recording only the third instance in Test history of two players from the same team scoring a century in each innings of a Test match, ICC reports.

The previous two instances were of Australia’s Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell against New Zealand in Wellington in 1974 and Pakistan’s Azhar Ali and Misbah-ul-Haq against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014.

Sri Lanka’s new-ball bowlers Kasun Rajitha and Vishwa Fernando have also made notable gains in the latest men’s rankings update. Rajitha has jumped six places to 38th position after returning match figures of eight for 112 while Fernando has moved from 50th to 43rd after finishing with seven for 84.

Bangladesh’s middle-order batter Mominul Haque’s second innings knock of 87 has lifted him eight places to 50th while fast bowler Khaled Ahmed’s four wickets in the match have taken him from 98th to 89th position.