Australian batsman Marnus Labuschagne capped off a brilliant start to 2020 by climbing up to the third spot in the latest ICC Test batsmen rankings. Labuschagne was ranked 110th at the beginning of last year but is now only behind India captain Virat Kohli and compatriot Steve Smith.
IND v AUS 2020: In-form Marnus Labuschagne wary of "tough" India challenge
Labuschagne made 215 and 59 in the third Test against New Zealand at the SCG and clinched the ‘player of the match’ and ‘player of the series’ awards with 549 runs in three Tests. Including his haul against Pakistan, Marnus made 896 runs in five Tests. There are now three Australia batsmen in the top five with opener David Warner gaining two slots after scoring 297 runs in the series.
Mitchell Starc, on the other hand, equaled his career-best fifth position that he previously achieved in March 2018. He finished with 15 wickets in the series that included four in Sydney. Spinner Nathan Lyon’s 10-wicket haul has helped him advance five places to joint-14th.
New Zealand all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme moved to 39th place in batsmen rankings and 34th place in bowler’s rankings. Meanwhile, England’s Ben Stokes made it into the top 10 batsmen rankings for the first time in his career after his heroics in the Cape Town Test win over South Africa.
Latest ICC Test batsmen rankings:
1. Virat Kohli (IND)- 928 pts
2. Steve Smith (AUS)- 911 pts
3. Marnus Labuschagne (AUS)- 827 pts
4. Kane Williamson (NZ)- 814 pts
5. David Warner (AUS)- 793 pts
6. Cheteshwar Pujara (IND)- 791 pts
7. Babar Azam (PAK)- 767 pts
8. Joe Root (ENG)- 761 pts
9. Ajinkya Rahane (IND)- 759 pts
10. Ben Stokes (ENG)- 708 pts
Latest ICC Test bowlers rankings:
1. Pat Cummins (AUS)- 904 pts
2. Neil Wagner (NZ) – 852 pts
3. Jason Holder (WI)- 830 pts
4. Kagiso Rabada (SA)- 821 pts
5. Mitchell Starc (AUS)- 796 pts
6. Jasprit Bumrah- 794 pts
7. James Anderson (ENG)- 791 pts
8.Vernon Philander (SA)- 786 pts
9. R Ashwin (IND)- 772 pts
10. Mohammad Shami (IND) – 771 pts
