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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Bengaluru Police bust major drug network; 16 arrested, narcotics worth Rs 36.67 crore seized
Bengaluru: In a major crackdown on drug trafficking and illegal narcotics trade, Bengaluru City Police have arrested 16 accused persons and seized narcotic substances worth Rs 36.67 crore.
According to Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh, those arrested include four foreign nationals, eight persons from other states and four locals. Police said the network had interstate as well as international links.
Police recovered 9 kg 64 grams of MDMA, 5 kg 195 grams of hydro ganja, 19,755 LSD strips, 156 grams of heroin, 618 grams of charas, 332 grams of cocaine, 315 grams of drug-mixed gummies and 11 kg 470 grams of ganja from the accused.
The Commissioner said the action was carried out as part of a major anti-drug operation in the city. The network was busted with the support of the CCB Narcotics Control Squad and police stations of Bagaluru, Adugodi, Chikkajala, HSR Layout, Yeshwanthpur, Jalahalli and Jnanabharathi.
Cases were registered in CCB, East Division and West Division police stations based on specific intelligence received on different dates, following which raids were conducted.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were procuring drugs at lower prices from foreign, interstate and local sources and selling them in Bengaluru at higher rates.
Police said college students and working professionals were among the main targets of the accused.
