He has long been one of the premier fast bowlers of his era — but perhaps now it’s time to recognise Australia captain Pat Cummins as a genuine world-class all-rounder.
Following Cummins’s tremendous Boxing Day Test success against India, the first ICC rankings update for 2025 sees him rise from fourth to third in the bowling list, thanks to his six-wicket haul in the dramatic win at the MCG.
At 31, Cummins also soared four spots to a career-high third in the Test all-rounder rankings, bolstered by his valuable knocks of 49 and 41 that contributed to his side’s 184-run triumph.
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His ranking of 283 points bettered the fifth position he attained in August 2019 and puts him behind only Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan (284) and India’s Ravindra Jadeja (405) in the list of top all-rounders, while both innings have also helped him enter the list of the top-100 batters, in 97th place.
Cummins also ranks ahead of more recognised all-rounders such as England’s Ben Stokes (ninth) and Joe Root (seventh). Marco Jansen, Shakib Al Hasan, Jason Holder, Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes are the other players who round out the top 10.
Cummins, last year’s Sir Garfield Sobers award winner as world men’s cricketer of the year, took three wickets in each innings to edge him into third position in the bowling charts with 837 rating points.
That’s six points behind teammate Josh Hazlewood with India superstar Jasprit Bumrah moving on to highest ever points-rating achieved by an India bowler at the top of the rankings.
Bumrah’s nine-wicket match haul in Melbourne ensured the pace ace soared from his previous tied-high of 904 points with Ravichandran Ashwin to a new landmark of 907.
It puts him joint-17th in the all-time list of Test bowlers, in a list headed by two Englishmen — Sydney Barnes (932) and George Lohmann (931) — who played more than a century ago.
Cummins and Glenn McGrath are the top Aussies on that list, in joint-fifth on 914 points at their peak.
Steve Smith has moved up three places in the Test batting rankings to seventh after his 140 against India (763 points), two spots behind the leading Australian Travis Head (780), while English maestro Joe Root still leads the way on 895.
AAP
