CHAGUARAMAS (92 News) - Umesh Yadav cracked the top 25 among bowlers after starring role in Indian win, while Roston Chase, Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant moved up among the batsmen.
It was one-way traffic in the two-Test series between India and the Windies, which the home side won 2-0 with victories by an innings and 272 runs and by 10 wickets.
But Jason Holder, the Windies captain, stood out for his individual performance with the ball, like he has often in the recent past.
It has been an outstanding year with the ball for Holder.
- His 5/56 in the Indian first innings was his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests this year, the most by any bowler.
- He is the first bowler from the Windies since Courtney Walsh in 2000 to pick up four five-fors in a calendar year.
- His was the first five-wicket haul by a Windies pacer in India since 1994, when Kenneth Benjamin returned 5/65 in Mohali.
- The most incredible stat is that he averages 11.87 with the ball in 2018, the best by a bowler with at least 30 wickets in a calendar year in 100 years.
That took him into the top 10 among bowlers, up four spots to No.9 with a career-high 766 points.
The other bowler to make big gains was Umesh Yadav, the Indian paceman who picked up six wickets in the first Windies innings and also returned his first 10-for in a Test. Yadav also rose four places and got to No.25 with 613 points, his career-best.
On to the batsmen, and Virat Kohli held on to the No.1 spot, while his deputy Ajinkya Rahane moved into the top 20 following a jump of four spots. However, Kraigg Brathwaite remained in the top 20, at No.19 joint with Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan, but slid four spots after scores of 14 and 0.
The big movers among the batsmen were Roston Chase, Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant.
Shaw and Pant, the young turks in the Indian batting order, had an outstanding series. Shaw followed up his century in the first Test with 70 and 33*, while Pant was again dismissed for 92, his score in the only innings of the first Test too. Shaw jumped 13 places to No.60 with 465 points, while Pant moved up 23 spots to No.62 with 459 points.
Chase, meanwhile, scored 53 and 20 in the first Test and 106 and 6 in the second. That took him up 10 positions to 31st place.
