Ashwin, Jadeja turn rivals in ranking battle

Ashwin is the number-one ranked bowler in therankings Test bowlers, but Jadeja is breathing down his neck as he is just eight points behind. It means that if Jadeja outshines Ashwin with the red cricket ball, he can potentially move ahead of the off-spinner, who has been sitting on the top of the tree since bowling India to a comfortable 321 runs victory over New Zealand in Indore in October 2016. 

Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan is the third highest-ranked bowler in (14th place) to feature in the series. He is followed by India’s Ishant Sharma (23rd), Mehedi Hasan of Bangladesh (36th), India’s Umesh Yadav (37th) and Taijul Islam of Bangladesh (39th). In the batting table, India captain Virat Kohli is 58 points behind number-one ranked Steve Smith. 

Kohli will be aiming to carry his strong form into the Hyderabad Test, which will certainly help him narrow the gap with his Australian opposite number. Other high-ranking batsmen to feature in the Test include Cheteshwar Pujara (12th), Ajinkya Rahane (15th), Shakib (22nd), Murali Vijay (27th), Tamim Iqbal (28th) and Mominul Haque (29th). 

In the team rankings, number-one ranked India leads ninth-ranked Bangladesh by 58 points. As such, because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, Bangladesh’s win will earn it five points, while India will drop from 120 points to 118 points. If India lives up to its ranking and wins the match, then it will earn one point while Bangladesh will drop only one point.

Uncapped Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has replaced leg-spinner Amit Mishra for India’s one-off test match against Bangladesh beginning on Thursday in Hyderabad, the Indian board (BCCI) said. Mishra will miss the match due to a knee injury he sustained while fielding during India’s Twenty20 win over England in Bengaluru on Feb. 1. Left-arm chinaman bowler Yadav has played for India under-19 and India A but is yet to make his debut for the senior side. The 22-year-old was previously picked, but did not feature, in the India’s one-day international series against West Indies in October 2014.