Mohammed Shami, Mayank Agarwal rise to career-best Test rankings
Dubai: Speedster Mohammed Shami and opener Mayank Agarwal on Sunday achieved their career-best positions in the latest ICC Test Rankings after contributing in India's innings and 130-run victory over Bangladesh in the first Test in Indore.
Shami's bowling figures of 3 for 27 and 4 for 31 lifted him eight places to seventh position. His 790 rating points are the third best for an India pace bowler with only Kapil Dev (877) and Jasprit Bumrah (832) having recorded more points.
Double centurion Agarwal, meanwhile, climbed to the 11th spot after his player-of-the-match effort of 243 in India's only innings. The 28-year-old has reached 691 rating points after scoring 858 runs in his first eight Tests.
Only seven batsmen have scored more runs than Agarwal in their first eight Tests -- Don Bradman (1210), Everton Weekes (968), Sunil Gavaskar (938), Mark Taylor (906), George Headley (904), Frank Worrell (890) and Herbert Sutcliffe (872).
In other significant movements for India, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja jumped four slots to reach joint-35th position among batsmen while pacers Ishant Sharma (20th) and Umesh Yadav (22nd) have moved up one place each.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is in the top 10 bowlers list, while moving back to fourth position among all-rounders.
For Bangladesh, Mushfiqur Rahim's knocks of 43 and 64 have helped him gain five places and reach 30th position while Liton Das has moved up from 92nd to 86th position.
Among bowlers, fast bowler Abu Jayed, who took four wickets in Indore, has advanced 18 slots to take 62nd position after only six Tests.
Meanwhile, India strengthened their position in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) standings by reaching 300 points. They are yet to concede a point, having gained a full 120 points each in their three-Test home series against South Africa and two-Test series in the West Indies.
Each Test of the ongoing two-match series against Bangladesh is worth 60 points since the 120 points up for grab in a series are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series. The points range from 60 points for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand are on 60 points each after drawing their two-match series 1-1 while England and Australia are on 56 each after their five-match Ashes series ended 2-2. The West Indies and South Africa failed to get any points in their opening series.
Pakistan will play their first WTC series against Australia starting later this week. The first match of the two-Test series starts in Brisbane on Thursday while the second Test, a day-night fixture, will be played in Adelaide from November 29.
The top two teams at the end of the league will play the final in the UK in June 2021 with the winners crowned the World Test Champions.
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Indian economy likely to be 'a little weaker' in 2025: IMF MD
Washington, Jan 11: The Indian economy is expected to be "a little weaker" in 2025 despite steady global growth, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said.
Georgieva also said she expects quite a lot of uncertainty in the world this year mainly around the trade policy of the US.
In her annual media roundtable with a group of reporters on Friday, she said global growth is expected to be steady in 2025, but with regional divergence.
Georgieva said she expects the Indian economy to be a little weaker in 2025. However, she did not explain it any further. The World Economy Outlook update week will have more details about it.
“The US is doing quite a bit better than we expected before, the EU is somewhat stalling, (and) India a little weaker," she said.
Brazil was facing somewhat higher inflation, she said.
In China, the world’s second-largest economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was seeing deflationary pressure and ongoing challenges with domestic demand, she said.
"Low-income countries, despite all the efforts they are making, are in a position when any new shock can affect them quite negatively,” Georgieva said.
“What we expect in 2025 is to have quite a lot of uncertainty, especially in terms of economic policies. Not surprisingly, given the size and role of the US economy, there is keen interest globally in the policy directions of the incoming administration, in particular on tariffs, taxes, deregulation and government efficiency,” Georgieva said.
“This uncertainty is particularly high around the path for trade policy going forward, adding to the headwinds facing the global economy, especially for countries and regions that are more integrated in global supply chains, medium-sized economies, (and) Asia as a region," she said.
That uncertainty is actually expressed globally through higher long-term interest rates, even though short-term interest rates have gone down, the IMF Managing Director said.
Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 47th President of the United States on January 20, replacing Joe Biden at the White House.
Trump, 78, has announced plans to impose additional tariffs on countries like China, Canada and Mexico. He has publicly announced the use of tariffs as a key policy tool.
On inflation, the IMF expects global disinflation to continue, Georgieva said.
"As we all recognise, the higher interest rates that were necessary to fight inflation did not push the world economy into recession. They have delivered the desired results. Headline inflation is converging back to target sooner in advanced economies than in emerging markets,” she said.
