ICC Test Rankings: Babar Azam climbs up to third position
Pakistan cricket team skipper Babar Azam has risen to third in the updated ICC Test Rankings for Batters. Babar played a key role in helping Pakistan win the first Test versus Sri Lanka with scores of 119 and 55. He has moved to a career-high rating of 874 points, replacing Steve Smith, who has dropped down to fourth. Here are the details.
A look at the Top 10 batters
Joe Root tops the ICC Test Rankings for Batters with 923 rating points. He is above Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, who has 885 rating points. Babar is placed third above Smith, who has 848 rating points. India's Rishabh Pant is fifth with 801 rating points. Kane Williamson (786), Usman Khawaja (766), Dimuth Karunaratne (746), Rohit Sharma (746), and Jonny Bairstow (742) complete the list.
Babar is ranked number one in ODIs and T20Is
Babar is the only batter to feature inside the top-three across all formats at the moment. He is the number one ranked batter in ODIs (892 points) and T20Is (818 points).
Abdullah Shafique jumps 23 spots to be 16th
Abdullah Shafique, who scored a match-winning 160* to help Pakistan win the first Test, has jumped 23 spots to be placed 16th in the Test Rankings. Mohammad Rizwan is occupying the 20th position, while Azhar Ali dropped six spots to be 24th. For Sri Lanka, an in-form Dinesh Chandimal has gained 11 places to be 18th following scores of 76 and 94*.
Gains for Afridi and Jayasuriya
Pakistan left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi has replaced Jasprit Bumrah in the updated ICC Test Rankings for Bowlers. Afridi, who took four wickets in the first innings of the first Test, has risen to the third position on 836 points. Lankan spinner Prabath Jayasuriya has climbed 11 spots to be 44th with 481 points. It's the fourth-highest by any bowler after two Tests.
