New Delhi: England’s Joe Root has risen to the top of ICC Men’s Test rankings for batsmen following his stellar show in the first Test of Ashes 2023.
In the latest released rankings on Thursday, Root rose to the pinnacle, while former number 1 Marnus Labuschagne dropped to third place.
Root’s sudden rise comes on the back of his match-winning century in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s, an innings that also saw the right-hander become the second Englishman and 14th player overall to register 10,000 Test runs.
With Root’s rise, it also sees a small re-shuffle within the top five as Australia’s Steve Smith drops one place to third in the latest rankings. Pakistan captain Babar Azam jumps a spot to claim fourth place, while New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson – who managed scores of just two and 15 at Lord’s – drops two places to fifth.
Among Indian players, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Dhruv Jurel have also seen a significant improvement in their rankings, with Jaiswal moving up three places to 12th, the highest rating in his career, Gill climbing four spots to 31st, and Jurel rising by 31 places to 69th.
Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz made history. His six-wicket haul across two games at the League 2 tri-series in Nepal has taken him to 11th among ODI bowlers, a record high for Namibia. Scholtz’s slow left-arm orthodox spin earned him 4 for 31 against Nepal and 2 for 15 against Netherlands.
