New Delhi: England batter Joe Root has regained the pole position in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings. Root has dethroned New Zealand’s Kane Williamson to take the top spot and now begin his ninth stint as the top-ranked batter in men’s Tests.
Root managed to amass 291 runs over three matches against the West Indies in England’s 3-0 series win, especially by smashing 87 in the third and final Test of the series in Birmingham and even scoring his 32nd Test century at Trent Bridge.
He also became just the second male batter to go past 12,000 runs in Tests and is now the seventh-highest run-getter in the longer format. Babar Azam, Daryl Mitchell, Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma have all gained a spot each as Harry Brook, Root’s England team-mate, slipped to seventh position after attaining a career-best third position last week.
England captain Ben Stokes, who struck 54 in the first innings in Birmingham and a quickfire 57 not out off 28 balls in the second essay, has moved up four positions to 30th in the batting rankings.
Fast bowler Mark Wood’s Player of the Match performance of 2-52 and 5-40 has lifted him into the top 20 of the bowling rankings for the first time in his career.
England wicketkeeper Jamie Smith’s knock of 95 has lifted him 31 places to 64th position while West Indies batter Kavem Hodge is up three places to 72nd. Zimbabwe veteran Sean Williams has re-entered the rankings in 33rd position after scores of 35 and 40.
West Indies pacer Jayden Seales (up seven places to a career-best 26th position), England’s Gus Atkinson (up four places to 46th), Zimbabwe’s Blessing Muzarabani (re-entered rankings in 50th position) and Ireland’s Mark Adair (up three places to 63rd) are other notable gainers in the men’s Test bowling rankings.
In the Men’s T20I Rankings, India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is back at number four after amassing 80 runs in the three-match series against Sri Lanka, which the visitors won 3-0. His opening partner Shubman Gill has moved up 16 places to a career-best 21st position.
India leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who has been ranked No.1 in the past, is back in the top 10 while Arshdeep Singh (up four places to 19th) and Washington Sundar (up six places to 40th) have also made inroads in men’s T20I bowling rankings. Sri Lanka batting pair of Pathum Nissanka (up 11 places to 15th) and Kusal Perera (up 40 places to joint-63rd) have also moved up in the men’s T20I batting rankings.
The men’s ODI Rankings see Oman players Aqib Ilyas (up five places to 58th among batters) and Kaleemullah (up 11 places to 50th among bowlers) move up the rankings while Scotland’s Richard Berrington is up seven places to 59th among batters after performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2.
(IANS)
