ICC Test Rankings: Joe Root ranked number one among batters
Former England captain Joe Root has dethroned Australia's Marnus Labuschagne to claim the top spot in the latest ICC Test Rankings (batters). The former recently became the only active cricketer to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket. Root has already slammed four Test centuries this year. He scored his 27th in the recently-concluded Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. Here are further details.
Root leads Labuschagne by five points
Root now has 897 rating points at the top, five more than second-placed Labuschagne in the ICC Test Rankings for batters. Labuschagne's teammate Steven Smith occupies third place, with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam (fourth) and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (fifth) following Smith. India's Rohit Sharma sits at number eight, while Virat Kohli owns the 10th spot in the Batting Rankings.
A look at the latest ICC Test Rankings
14th cricketer to slam 10,000 Test runs
Root is only the second Englishman to get past the 10,000-run mark afterAlastair Cook (12,474). In a career spanning a decade, Root has slammed 10,194 runs at 49.97. Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Cook, Kumar Sangakkara, Brian Lara, S Chanderpaul, Mahela Jayawardene, Allan Border, Steve Waugh, Sunil Gavaskar, and Younis Khan are the others to have slammed over 10,000 Test runs.
Root equals Smith and Kohli
Root hammered his 27th Test century in the second Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge. The former England captain equaled the tally of Smith, Kohli, Graeme Smith, and Allan Border in terms of Test tons.
Most Test runs since January 2021
Root has been on a roll since the start of 2021. He slammed 2,371 runs at an incredible average of 57.82 in this period. The tally includes 10 centuries, four half-centuries, and two double-hundreds. As far as the Fab Four is concerned, Smith has scored 773 runs since January 2021 (one century). Kohli and Williamson racked up 725 and 412 runs, respectively.
A look at the Bowling Rankings
Among bowlers, Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (third), Pakistan speedster Shaheen Afridi (fourth), and South Africa seamer Kagiso Rabada (fifth) have climbed a spot each. New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson dropped to sixth spot. His teammate Trent Boult has jumped four places to occupy ninth spot. While Boult entered the top 10, his compatriot Tim Southee plunged to 13th place.
ICC ODI Rankings: Imam-ul-Haq surpasses Virat Kohli
As far as the ODI Batting Rankings are concerned, Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq has surpassed Virat Kohli to enter the top two. Kohli has slipped to number three, while Babar Azam leads the Rankings. Among bowlers, Australian pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood climbs to second spot, while New Zealand's Matt Henry follows him. Oman's Zeeshan Maqsood moved 13 places to enter the top 10 (All-rounders Rankings).
