Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has attained the No. 1 position in the ICC Test batting rankings for his exploits in the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval.

Labuschagne has surpassed England skipper Joe Root, who was occupying the pinnacle spot since August this year, to claim the top position.

In the second Ashes Test, Marnus registered scores of 103 and 51 to script Australia’s thumping 275-run victory.

Labuschagne is the ninth batter from Australia to have breached the 900-point mark in the rankings, joining the elite list featuring Sir Don Bradman, Ricky Pointing, Matthew Hayden, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke etc.

Among the bowlers, Mitchell Starc is back in the top 10 for the first time since January this year. The left-arm pacer claimed six wickets in the pink-ball Test to ensure Australia’s 2-0 lead in the Ashes series. On the other hand, Pat Cummins retained the top spot despite missing the second Test.

For England, captain Root achieved his career-best rankings in the list for all-rounders, rising two spots to No.10 after scoring 86 runs and picking three wickets in the Adelaide Test.

In the Player Rankings for T20Is, Pakistan captain Babar Azam reclaimed the top spot in the list for batters.

After scoring 0 and 7 in the first two T20Is against the West Indies, Babar dropped two spots to No.3 in last week's rankings update. However, he slammed a match-winning 79 in the final T20I to retain the pole position.

His fellow opener Mohammad Rizwan, who has had a tremendous 2021, ended the year by moving to No.3 in T20I batters' rankings with career-best ratings of 798. Rizwan was the Player of the Match in the final T20I against West Indies, helping his side chase 208 in less than 19 overs with a brilliant 45-ball 87.

(With ICC inputs)