On the bank of his exceptional form, former England skipper Joe Root has swapped Australia’s batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne at the top spot in the latest released ICC men’s Test rankings. Root is in a sensational run from the past couple of years as his consistency with the willow is reaching new heights.
Recently, the Yorkshire batter accomplished the milestone of becoming only the second England batter to breach the 10,000-run benchmark, following his back-to-back centuries against New Zealand.
Root has been in fine touch in the ongoing three-match home series against New Zealand, which the hosts are leading 2-0. The right-handed batter smacked 115* in the opening Test at Lord’s, followed by 176 in the second match at Nottingham. As a result, Root earned 897 rating points, which took him above Labuschagne, who had held the top spot since December 2021.
Australia’s Steven Smith remains in third place, followed by Pakistan captain Babar Azam and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson at number four and five, respectively. Black Caps all-rounder Daryl Mitchell jumped 33 places to move to 17th, following scores of 190 and 69 in the Trent Bridge Test.
Among the bowlers, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult, who took a five-wicket haul during the first innings at Trent Bridge, advanced four places to ninth in the rankings.
However, his teammates Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee dropped to sixth and 13th on the list, respectively. This allowed India’s Jasprit Bumrah (third), Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi (fourth) and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada (fifth) to all rise one spot each in the bowlers’ rankings headed by Aussie skipper Pat Cummins.
Regarding the ODIs, Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq leapfrogged global superstar Virat Kohli to acquire the No. 2 position in the batting rankings owned by Pakistan leader Babar. Notably, Imam smashed three half-centuries during Pakistan’s recent ODI series at home against West Indies.
When it comes to the bowlers, Boult remains comfortably at the top position, with Josh Hazlewood and Matt Henry jumping one spot each to reach second and third place, respectively.
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