Ashwin, who was the leading wicket-taker in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 25 scalps, is 10 rating points ahead of England seamer James Anderson.
Ashwin claimed the top spot after taking six wickets in India's emphatic victory over Australia in the second Test in New Delhi.
On the first day the rain came after only 65 overs when England already was 315-3. With Harry Brook making 186 and Joe Root an unbeaten 153 in a 302-run partnership, England was able to declare its first innings at 435-8.
Ashwin, who surged to No. 1 in the Test bowling rankings last week, took just four wickets in two innings of the third Test against Australia in Indore.
Kane Williamson's superb century help steer New Zealand to 483 all out in their second innings and set England a target of 258 runs to win the second Test in Wellington.
Veteran England seamer James Anderson leads the list but Australia captain Pat Cummins has dropped two places to third.
Australia will travel to England for the Ashes in June with a question mark on whether the 36-year-old left-handed batter will be part of the squad or not.
While Stuart Broad finished with 4-49, his long-time and record-breaking partner James Anderson took 4-18 bowling out the Kiwis for 127 runs.
Blundell was undaunted, even when England took the second new ball just as the floodlights kicked in at Bay Oval in the day-night match, and went on to 138...
The declaration after only 58.2 overs and with 85 minutes left in the day gave the bowlers time to fortify England's position and they did so with the wickets...
It is quite common for players to play at the top deep into the 30s, sometimes even till their 40s, as these athletes have shown.
Ahmed will be 18 years and 126 days when he takes the field on Saturday in the third and final Test.
Mark Wood destroyed Pakistan hopes with his fearsome pace and led aggressive England to a sensational 26-run victory inside four days in the second Test on...
The visitors are 1-0 up after the 74-run win at Rawalpindi in their first Test in Pakistan in 17 years.
Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique hit tons on a run-friendly wicket before England bounced back with four late wickets before the end of day's play.
Imam-ul-Haq was not out on 90 and Abdullah Shafique was unbeaten on 89 as they played out over two sessions before bad light closed out play.
Pakistan have won four, lost three and drawn two matches in their test championship schedule to be placed in the fifth position in the overall standings.
Under McCullum, England showed plenty of aggression in the longer format of the game, winning 3-0 against New Zealand and 2-1 against South Africa at home.
India’s Sachin Tendulkar (94) and Australia’s Ricky Ponting (92) are second and third respectively on the list behind James Anderson.
England have made just one change from the squad that lost the Lord’s Test against South Africa. Ollie Robinson replaced Matthew Potts. Gets ENG vs SA 2nd...
The first Test match between England and South Africa at Lord's, London starts Wednesday. England lead South Africa 64-34 in the head-to-head record.
England have met South Africa 153 times, winning 64 matches out of them. England lost 34 games while 55 ended in draws. Get ENG vs SA first Test live streaming...
In his last five Test innings, Jonny Bairstow has scored four hundreds and one fifty. He played a crucial role in England’s last four straight Test victories.
England made a mockery of 378-run target in the fifth Test at Edgbaston, and denied India a series win. Catch ENG vs IND highlights.
England chased down a 378-run target for a seven-wicket win in the rescheduled fifth Test against India.
