Rishabh Pant re-enters top 10; Rohit, Kohli slip in ICC Test batting rankings
Dubai, Sep 25: Riding on a sensational century in his Test comeback, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Wednesday re-entered the ICC rankings at an impressive sixth position but India skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli slipped in a major shake-up in standings.
Pant (731), who smashed a stunning century in the opening game of the two-Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai, was placed sixth, while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (751), moved up to fifth thanks to a half-century in the first innings of the Test match.
India skipper Rohit Sharma retained his place in the top ten, though he moved down five places with two underwhelming scores. He has 716 rating points.
Kohli also dropped five spots to go out of the top-10 and he is now placed 12th in the standings.
The Sri Lanka-New Zealand Test in Galle brought about top 10 bowling rankings shifts, with Prabath Jayasuriya solidifying his reputation as one of the game's best spinners, moving five spots into eighth after a nine-wicket haul.
Jayasuriya (743) is the highest-ranked player representing Sri Lanka across the three disciplines, moving past Asitha Fernando, who slid down two spots to 13th (700).
Kamindu Mendis, who moved up three spots to 16th in the batting rankings and Dhananjaya de Silva, who climbed five spots to 18th on the All-Rounder Rankings (168) were other movers over note in the victory.
In ODI rankings, young Afghan star Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Australian Travis Head leapt into the top 10 in the Batting rankings, thanks to quick-fire hundreds in action across UAE and England.
Gurbaz continued his dream career start in ODI cricket, hitting his seventh century in the format before his 23rd birthday, and moving 10 spots in the process up to eighth (692) to become the first-ever Afghan batter to reach the top 10 positions of the ICC Men's ODI Batting Ranking.
The previous best performer from the Asian country in the ODI Batting Rankings was Ibrahim Zadran, who had reached the 12th rank.
Gurbaz edged Head, who moved seven spots to ninth (684) in large part thanks to his 154 not out (129) in the first of five ODIs against rivals England.
Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan joined Rahmanullah in the rankings headlines, moving eight spots to third (668) in the ODI Bowling Rankings, claiming seven wickets across the team's two victories against South Africa in UAE.
The contributions of the pair helped Afghanistan to an ODI series win over the Proteas, their first against a top five-ranked opposition in their history.
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Prices of cigarettes, beedis, pan masala to rise from Feb 1 with new tax, cess
New Delhi: Cigarettes, beedis, pan masala and other tobacco products will become costlier from February 1 after the Centre notified additional excise duty on tobacco products and a new Health and National Security Cess on pan masala, NDTV reported.
According to a notification issued by the government on Wednesday, the new levies will be imposed over and above the existing Goods and Services Tax (GST) and will replace the compensation cess currently charged on these products.
From February 1, pan masala, cigarettes, tobacco and similar products will attract a GST rate of 40 per cent, while biris will attract 18 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST), according to a government notification.
On top of this, a Health and National Security Cess will be levied on pan masala, while tobacco and related products will attract additional excise duty.
The Finance Ministry also notified the Chewing Tobacco, Jarda Scented Tobacco and Gutkha Packing Machines (Capacity Determination and Collection of Duty) Rules, 2026, which will govern the assessment and collection of excise duty on these products.
Parliament had in December approved two Bills allowing levy of the new Health and National Security Cess on pan masala manufacturing and excise duty on tobacco.
The notification issued on Wednesday formally set February 1 as the implementation date. With the rollout of the new tax structure, the existing GST compensation cess on tobacco and pan masala, which is currently levied at varying rates, will cease to exist effective February 1.
