India skipper Virat Kohli and opening batsman Rohit Sharma retained their fifth and sixth positions in the ICC Test batting rankings after the second Test against England at Lord’s.
England skipper Joe Root, who slammed 180 not out in England’s 151-run defeat at the Home of Cricket, moved two slots to claim the second spot in the updated rankings released on Wednesday (August 18).
Root, a formerly top-ranked batter in the format, is on 893 rating points, only eight less than top-ranked Kane Williamson.
KL Rahul, who earned the Player-of-the-Match for his knock of 129 in the first innings, also made giant strides on the rankings table, jumping 19 spots to occupy 37th place.
The bowlers to gain from the Lord’s Test include James Anderson, who has moved one spot and is sixth after a five-wicket haul in the first innings while other England pace bowler Mark Wood and India’s Mohammed Siraj have made significant gains to reach 37th and 38th positions, respectively. Wood has gained five slots with five wickets in the match while Siraj’s four wickets in each innings see him gain 18 places.
The latest weekly update also took into consideration the first Test between Pakistan and West Indies, which the hosts won by one-wicket in Kingston.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam advanced two slots to eighth position among batters after scores of 30 and 55 while Faheem Ashraf and Fawad Alam have gained four spots each to attain 48th and 55th positions, respectively.
For the West Indies, Jermaine Blackwood has gained nine slots to reach 35th position after scoring 22 and 55. All-rounder Jason Holder is up five places to 43rd and captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who missed a first-innings century by three runs, has leapfrogged 18 places to 45th.
All-rounder Jason Holder has also moved into the top 10 for bowlers as his four wickets in the match lifted him two places to ninth position. Fast bowler Jayden Seales has soared 39 places to 58th after his eight-wicket match haul that earned him the Player of the Match award while Kemar Roach is another gainer, moving up two places to 11th.
For Pakistan, left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has gained four slots to attain 18th position after claiming four wickets in each innings and Faheem is up four places to 71st.
(With ICC inputs)
