New Delhi: England’s batting stalwart Joe Root has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings following his sublime century at Lord’s. His knocks of 104 and 40 runs in the third Test played a crucial role in England’s nail-biting 22-run win, giving the hosts a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
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Root Tops Rankings with 888 Points
With a total of 888 rating points, Root has overtaken teammate Harry Brook, who now sits at third place with 862 points. This marks Root’s eighth stint as the world’s top-ranked Test batter.
At 34 years old, Root becomes the oldest No. 1 Test batter since Kumar Sangakkara held the position in December 2014 at the age of 37.
Williamson, Smith Climb; Brook Drops to Third
With Brook slipping to third, Kane Williamson of New Zealand moves to second. Meanwhile, Steve Smith has risen to fourth, surpassing India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal after scoring 48 runs in Australia’s 3-0 series win over West Indies in Jamaica.
Smith’s teammate Cameron Green also made significant progress, jumping 16 spots to reach joint 29th after scores of 46 and 42.
Indian Players Show Mixed Results in Latest Rankings
- Ravindra Jadeja’s impressive knocks of 72 and 61 at Lord’s* pushed him five places up to 34th in the batting rankings.
- KL Rahul follows closely behind at 35th, moving up five places after scoring 100 and 39.
- Shubman Gill, however, slipped three spots to ninth, following a poor outing (16 and 6).
- Ben Stokes, who earned the Player of the Match award with 77 runs and five wickets, moved up two places to 42nd among batters and one spot to 45th among bowlers.
Bowlers’ Rankings See Big Shifts
- Jasprit Bumrah retained his top spot, maintaining a 50-point lead over Kagiso Rabada after a seven-wicket haul at Lord’s.
- Washington Sundar’s impressive 4-22 lifted him from 58th to 46th in the bowling rankings.
- Scott Boland jumped six places to a career-best 6th after claiming three wickets in each innings, including a hat-trick.
Australia’s bowling unit dominance continues as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, and Boland are now all in the ICC Test top 10—a feat last seen in 1958 with England.
West Indies Show Signs of Promise Despite Collapse
Despite being bowled out for 27 runs, West Indies saw individual gains:
- Shamar Joseph climbed to a career-best 14th after taking eight wickets.
- Alzarri Joseph moved up two places to 29th.
- Justin Greaves surged 15 spots to 65th in bowling rankings.
Changes in Men’s T20I Rankings
- In batting, Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis moved up three places to 15th, while Bangladesh’s Parvez Hossain Emon jumped 12 spots to 85th.
- In bowling, Nuwan Thushara of Sri Lanka rose nine places to 16th, and Rishad Hossain of Bangladesh climbed 12 spots to 17th.