Pat Cummins loses top test cricket bowling ranking thanks to struggles in India

After two heavy defeats in India, embattled Australian Test captain Pat Cummins has lost his ranking as the world’s top ranked Test bowler, with 40-year-old James Anderson taking the top spot.

Cummins’ four-year reign as No.1 is over after the fast bowler claimed just three wickets at 39.67 in the current series. 

Meanwhile, Anderson has shot to the top of the rankings for the sixth time after England’s win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui where he took 7/54.

Anderson is the oldest player since Australia’s Clarrie Grimmett in 1936 to hold the top ranking – and seems to be just getting better with age.

The leading fast bowling Test wicket-taker of all time, Anderson has taken 15 wickets for an impressive average of 13.46 from tough tours away to Pakistan and new Zealand.

Cummins, who has flown home from India for personal reasons, has dropped down into the No.3 spot, while India’s Ravi Ashwin has moved into No. 2 after taking 14 wickets in the two Tests against the Aussies.

It has been a horror tour for Cummins, with the skipper facing criticism from all quarters for his personal performance and his decision making as captain.

Aussie cricket legend Geoff Lawson has been the most recent voice to call Cummins’ leadership into question. 

‘Cummo (Cummins) has so little experience captaining on spinning wickets, in the contemporary game your captain plays very little Sheffield Shield, and he certainly doesn’t play on spinning wickets,’ Lawson said on SEN 1170 Afternoons.

‘So where does he learn to do all the creative and adaptable things you need to do? He doesn’t, he just gets thrown in the deep end and we watch a lot of videos and make decisions.

‘When Axar Patel (is) having a partnership with (Ravi) Ashwin, we’re not sure how we are going about breaking them down, those couple of partnerships have cost us two Test matches.’

Ex-captain Michael Clarke was scathing of Cummins’ leadership and tactics in the wash-up of the Delhi disaster.

‘I’ve got to say, I’m not sure what happened with our tactics either. We had 100 runs on the board, at one stage Pat Cummins had four blokes on the boundary,’ he said on his Sky Sports Radio program.

‘You’re either bowling India out for under 100, or you’re losing. If you lose in 20 overs or you lose in two days, it’s irrelevant.

‘So fielders get up, (put a) bat-pad off side, bat-pad leg side, slip. If the ball turns, if the ball bounces, if the ball shoots along the ground, if you make an error in judgment, you are getting out. That’s what Australia had to do.

‘We had mid-off back, mid-on back, deep point, deep square-leg — what was I watching?’ asked an incredulous Clarke.

The Indian media has been predictably scathing of Australia’s performance, with the Hindustan Times questioning if the notorious tough mentality the Aussies are known for has gone.

‘India are unstoppable,’ wrote journalist Ashish Magotra in the Hindustan Times.

‘But just how bad are Australia? As the visitors lost the Delhi Test inside three days, the image of the famed Australian fighting spirit stood shattered.

‘This isn’t an Australian team that fights. Rather, this is a team that rolls over and lets the opposition breeze past.

‘You can’t call it a great collapse as there was nothing great about this, pitiful seems to be a far better fit,’ wrote Magotra.

About the worst insult an Australian side can get.

The third Test begins on March 1 at Holkar Stadium, Indore as the Aussies look to deny India a third straight win.