Ashwin and Jadeja achieve rare feat - No. 1& 2 in ICC Test rankings

The first time any two Indian bowlers were first and second in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers were left-arm spinner Bishan Singh Bedi and leg-spinner Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, way back in 1974.

Now after 42 years, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have emulated this rare feat in the latest ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday after being ranked first and second among Test bowlers. Jadeja, who grabbed a match-winning performance of 10-154 in the final Test against England, finished with 26 wickets in the five-match series, while his partner-in-crime Ravichandran Ashwin, ended with 28 wickets as India completed a 4-0 rout of England.

Jadeja, who was ranked sixth among the Test bowlers previously, leapfrogged Josh Hazlewood, James Anderson, Dale Steyn and Rangana Herath, to remain eight points behind leader Ashwin. The 28-year old also gained one place to achieve the third ranking in the list of all-rounders, which is also led by Ashwin.

Meanwhile, pace bowler Ishant Sharma gained two places to the 23rd rank after making a comeback in the fifth Test at Chennai.

Among Test Batsmen, KL Rahul and Karun Nair have made huge gains following their knocks of 199 and 303* in the recently-concluded fifth Test against England. Rahul gained 29 slots to reach a career-best 51st position, while Nair's splendid triple-century lifted him 122 places to the 55th position.