ICC Rankings: Joe Root is No 1 batsman, Kohli 10th; Ashwin, Bumrah get No 2 and No 3 slots among bowlers

Labuschagne
rose
to
the
top
in
December
last
year
following
knocks
of
103
and
51
against
England
in
Adelaide,
but
Root’s
recent
run
of
form
has
seen
the
Australian
usurped
at
the
head
of
proceedings.

Root
has
already
scored
four
centuries
this
calendar
year
and
become
just
the
second
Englishman
to
score
more
than
10,000
Test
runs
and
that
has
seen
the
31-year-old
jump
in
front
of
Labuschagne
as
the
No.1
ranked
batter
in
the
world.

The
Englishman
now
has
a
total
of
897
rating
points,
five
points
more
than
Labuschagne
in
second
place.

Labuschagne
may
get
the
chance
to
regain
top
billing
when
Australia
take
on
Sri
Lanka
in
a
two-match
World
Test
Championship
series
away
from
home
later
this
month,
but
Root
has
a
busy
period
of
Test
cricket
ahead
of
him
too.

Root
is
currently
in
the
middle
of
a
three-match
Test
series
against
New
Zealand,
with
England
also
hosting
India
for
a
one-off
Test
and
South
Africa
for
three
matches
over
the
coming
months.

Australia’s
Steve
Smith
remains
in
third
place
on
the
latest
Test
rankings,
with
Pakistan
captain
Babar
Azam
and
New
Zealand
skipper
Kane
Williamson
making
up
the
top
five.
Virat
Kohli
is
10th.

The
biggest
mover
in
the
rankings
was
Daryl
Mitchell,
with
the
New
Zealand
batter
rising
a
whopping
33
places
to
sit
17th
overall
following
scores
of
190
and
69*
in
the
second
Test
against
England
at
Trent
Bridge.

There
was
some
reshuffling
in
the
latest
bowling
rankings
with
towering
Kiwi
quick
Kyle
Jamieson
dropping
three
places
to
sixth
after
he
injured
his
back
against
England.

That
allowed
India
speedster
Jasprit
Bumrah
(third),
Pakistan
pacer
Shaheen
Afridi
(fourth)
and
South
Africa
quick
Kagiso
Rabada
(fifth)
to
all
rise
a
spot,
while
a
pair
of
Jamieson’s
New
Zealand
team-mates
swapped
positions
inside
the
top
10.
India’s
R
Ashwin
remained
second
while
Pat
Cummins
retained
his
top
spot.

Experienced
left-armer
Trent
Boult
jumped
four
places
to
ninth
on
the
bowling
rankings,
but
that
saw
compatriot
Tim
Southee
demoted
five
spots
to
13th.