ICC Ranking: Joe Root Reclaims No.1 Test Batter Position, Australian Bowlers Dominate Charts
Joe Root has climbed back to the top of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after his standout performance in England’s 22-run win over India at Lord’s. Root, who scored 104 and 40 in the third Test, now has 888 rating points, overtaking fellow Englishman Harry Brook, who dropped to second with 862 points. This marks Root’s eighth time at the top of the rankings, and at age 34, he becomes the oldest No.1 batter since Kumar Sangakkara held the position at 37 in 2014.
In the same round of rankings updates, Australian players saw significant movement, particularly in the bowling department. Scott Boland’s outstanding performance in the pink-ball Test against the West Indies in Jamaica earned him a career-best sixth spot. His match haul included a hat-trick and six wickets, bringing his tally to 62 wickets at an average of just 16.53. Only legendary bowlers George Lohmann and Sydney Barnes have managed better Test averages with more wickets.
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Australia now boasts five bowlers in the top 10. Pat Cummins remains in third place, Josh Hazlewood in fourth, Mitchell Starc stays at tenth but narrows the gap with Marco Jansen in ninth with 766 points, and Nathan Lyon slipped to eighth to make way for Boland. This level of dominance by one country in the bowling rankings hasn’t been seen since England had six bowlers in the top 12 in 1958.
Among other Australian players, Steve Smith moved up to sixth among Test batters after a composed 48-run innings in a low-scoring contest against the West Indies. Cameron Green also made a notable leap, climbing 16 places to 29th following solid scores of 46 and 42.
West Indies bowlers enjoyed success as well, especially at Sabina Park. Shamar Joseph jumped 15 spots to 14th, Justin Greaves rose 15 places to 65th, and Alzarri Joseph moved up two places to 29th in the Test bowling rankings.
For India, Washington Sundar was the biggest mover in the Lord’s Test, climbing 12 spots to 46th among Test bowlers.
In T20I rankings, there were also notable changes. Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Thushara and Bangladesh’s Rishad Hossain made gains, moving to 16th and 17th positions respectively. Binura Fernando from Sri Lanka broke into the top 50 with a massive 22-place jump. Dasun Shanaka improved eight places to rank 22nd among T20I all-rounders, while Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza advanced to sixth thanks to an unbeaten 54 against South Africa.
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