The best offspinner from India, Ravichandran Ashwin, is still classified as the best bowler in the most recent ICC Test rankings, which were revealed on Wednesday. In the meantime, Joe Root of England outperformed Marnus Labuschagne of Australia to win the coveted position of top batter in the world.
Ashwin maintained his position as the top bowler with a total of 860 points, despite being passed over for the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier this month. James Anderson of England, who received 829 points, took second place just behind him.
Jasprit Bumrah, an Indian bowler, is ranked eighth overall with 772 points, while Ravindra Jadeja is ranked ninth overall with 765 points.
Virat Kohli dropped one spot to take up position 14 in the batting rankings, while Rohit Sharma, the skipper, was ranked at number 12. Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer both advanced one rank to claim the 36th and 37th spots, while Cheteshwar Pujara kept his standing at 25th.
The only other member of India in the top 10 is the wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who currently holds the tenth position.
The largest adjustment was made at the top of the batting rankings, where Joe Root dethroned Marnus Labuschagne by moving up an impressive five spots.
Following the thrilling conclusion of the Edgbaston Test match, in which Australia defeated England by two wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series, these rankings have changed.
While Root demonstrated his prowess with an unbeaten 118 in England’s first innings of 393 for eight declared in the first Ashes Test—a move that provoked heated discussion after their subsequent defeat—Marnus Labuschagne failed to make a big impression with the bat in either of those innings.
Despite playing in a losing effort, Root’s excellent innings of 118 not out and 46 helped the 32-year-old to move up an amazing five spots and recover the title of top-ranked Test batsman in the world.
Due to his 0 and 13 against England, Labuschagne slipped to third place, allowing experienced New Zealander Kane Williamson to move up two spots and take second place overall.
As the fight among the top six players heats up with just a difference of 26 rating points separating them, fellow Australians Travis Head (down one slot to fourth) and Steve Smith (down four spaces to sixth) also suffered setbacks in the race to become the No. 1 Test batter.
Undoubtedly, it was one of the closest battles in recent memory.
In terms of the bowlers’ rankings, Kagiso Rabada of South Africa surpassed Pat Cummins of Australia (824) to take third place with 825 points.
