Joe Root has regained the no.1 Test ranking after a stellar run in the ongoing Test series against New Zealand. With consecutive Test centuries after stepping down as captain, Root delivered for England with the bat and dethroned Australia's Marnus Labuschagne from the top.
In the bowler’s rankings, Australian skipper Pat Cummins retained the top spot followed by India's veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Kiwi paceman Kyle Jamieson’s injury helped three bowlers climb one spot despite not playing a single Test of late.
As Jamieson slipped to no.6, India’s fast bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi and South Africa speedster Kagiso Rabada rose one spot each.
A five wicket haul in the first innings of the Nottingham test followed by a three-fer in second innings helped Trent Boult rise four spots. With eight wickets in a losing cause, Boult burst into the top 10 rankings. The left-arm pacer is now ranked ninth. He pushed Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood to the no.10 spot.
Root scored a century at Lord's run chase earlier this month to help Ben Stokes-led England take 1-0 lead. In the second Test, he helped England get into a good position with his 176-run knock. He shared a 187-run partnership for the third wicket with Ollie Pope and helped England post 539 and bring down New Zealand's lead to just 14 runs.
Root recently became the second English batter to score 10,000 runs in the longest format. He also became the second-youngest to achieve the feat. There was just one change in the top of ICC Test batter rankings. Labuschagne is followed by Australia's Steve Smith, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.
The two Indian batters in the top 10 are Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who are placed eighth and 10th. Both of them will have a chance to improve when India play England in the rescheduled Test next month.
