England's Joe Root has regained the No.1 position in the ICC Men's Test Batting Rankings following his brilliant performance in the 22-run win over India at Lord's.
Root, who now has 888 rating points, overtook fellow Englishman Harry Brook (862) after scoring 104 and 40 in the match that gave England a 2-1 lead in the five-Test series.
This marks Root’s eighth tenure at the top, and at 34, he becomes the oldest player to hold the No.1 Test batting spot since 37-year-old Kumar Sangakkara in December 2014.
Harry Brook, who recently held the title of the world’s No.1 Test batter, slipped one place after a disappointing outing in the Lord's Test against India, where he managed just 34 runs across two innings.
His dip in form paved the way for Joe Root, whose stellar performance at Lord's earned him crucial rating points and propelled him back to the top of the Test batting rankings.
Meanwhile, Australia’s Steve Smith (816 rating points) climbed one spot in the top 10 following a determined knock of 48 in a low-scoring contest against the West Indies in Jamaica. His teammate, Cameron Green, also made headlines with a 16-place surge to 29th in the rankings (619 points) after contributing scores of 46 and 42.
Coming to the Indian batters in the ICC Test rankings, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant each slipped a spot to fifth and eighth, respectively, among Indian batters in the ICC Test rankings. After a below-par outing at Lord’s against England, India captain Shubman Gill dropped three places to ninth.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul climbed to 35th in the rankings following his second century at Lord’s, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja moved up to 34th after registering four consecutive Test half-centuries.
At Lord's, Washington Sundar (up 12 spots to 46th) was the most notable mover in India's meeting with England.
After scoring a hat-trick in the pink-ball Test match against the West Indies in Jamaica, Australia's Scott Boland, a pacer, jumped six spots to sixth place in the Test bowlers' rankings. Mitchell Starc was in 10th place after taking seven wickets in Jamaica, including a record-breaking fifer.
With Boland's rise, Australia now has five players in the top 10 list of the best Test bowlers in the world, including Nathan Lyon (eighth), Josh Hazlewood (fifth), and captain Pat Cummins (third).
(ICC inputs)
