South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada has returned to the top of the International Cricket Council’s rankings for Test bowlers.

Rabada has displaced England fast bowler James Anderson at the helm of the rankings.

The Proteas star has 882 points to the Englishman’s 874.

Anderson took just one wicket in the opening Tests of England’s three-match series against Sri Lanka recently – and was rested for the third.

He surpassed Australia’s Glenn McGrath as Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker, among seamers, earlier this year. He currently has 565 to McGrath’s 563.

‘If he can raise the bar to 600 wickets, that’s an incredible effort,’ McGrath told BBC Radio 5.

‘To be beaten by somebody like Anderson is great. I have a lot of respect for Jimmy. He’s been an incredible bowler for a long time. To have played well over 140 Tests and just keep running in, day in, day out, and remain at the top of his game, yeah, I’m very proud Jimmy’s got there,’ McGrath told the BBC’s Radio 5 at the time.

‘You always wonder whether anyone’s going to get there. There were probably two guys I thought about – one was Jimmy and the other was South Africa’s Dale Steyn.

‘Being a fast bowler is the toughest part of the game and injuries do play a part. To think that Jimmy’s played for so long and continued at the top of his game shows his work ethic, his physical and mental strength and everything else that goes into it.’

Rabada, meanwhile, has not played the longest format of the international game since July – and is currently representing the Jozi Stars in the inaugural Mzansi Super League.

Image: Gallo