Joe Root rises to top spot in ICC Test rankings

Former England skipper Joe Root has surged towards the number one spot in the latest ICC Test rankings, overtaking Australia’s Marnus Lambuschagne in the process. This comes on the back of a successful run with the bat thus far in the home Test series against New Zealand, where he scored two centuries across the two Tests matches played so far. Meanwhile, India opener Ishan Kishan climbed up 68 places to grab the seventh spot among batters, while the bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and  Yuzvendra Chahal also made gains in the latest ICC T20 rankings released on Wednesday. Kishan, who has been one of India’s consistent performers in the ongoing T20I home series against South Africa, aggregating 164 runs in three matches including two half-centuries, has made a massive jump to enter the top 10 among T20 batters. The 23-year-old is the lone Indian batter in the top 10 with KL Rahul occupying the 14 spot. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer have dropped a place each to 16th and 17th spots respectively, while Virat Kohli has slid two places to 21st. Among bowlers, Bhuvneshwar is up seven places to 11th while leg-spinner Chahal has climbed up four places to 26th. Australia’s Josh Hazlewood has regained his number one spot among T20 bowlers, while Maheesh Theekshana of Sri Lanka is up 16 places to eighth in the list. In the Test rankings, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has moved a spot to third, behind compatriot Ravichandran Ashwin, who remains static on number two. Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin, however, continue to occupy the top two spots in the all rounders’ list. Rohit and Kohli retained their seventh and 10 spots respectively among batters while England’s Joe Root is back at the top after smashing a second successive century in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship series against New Zealand. Root’s centuries against New Zealand  While he scored an unbeaten 115 in the first Test to lead England home by five wickets, Root amassed 176 in England’s first-innings fightback in the second Test, where they responded with 539 to New Zealand’s 553. England would go onto win the second Test, and seal the series with one game to spare, with Jonny Bairstow (136) and Ben Stokes (75*) starring in the chase of 299. In the first Test early in June, Root had become just the second England batter after Alastair Cook to join the elite list of completing 10,000 runs in Test cricket. The ongoing Test series is Root’s first since relinquishing Test captaincy early this year, following a Test series defeat to West Indies. Lambuschagne is in second place, while fellow Australian Steve Smith remains in third place, with Babar Azam and Kane Williamson fourth and fifth respectively. Australia play Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series, so that will allow Marnus to give himself a chance in retaining top spot. England’s upcoming assignments include the third Test against New Zealand, one-off rescheduled Test against India and a three-match series against South Africa. Babar Azam, on the other hand, currently holds the number one spot in both ODI and T20I batters’ charts. With inputs from PTI