Joe Root moves up to 2nd place in ICC Test rankings update, Kane Williamson slips

After his fourth innings century won England their first Test match in more than ten months, Joe Root entered the top two of the ICC Test rankings, surpassing Steven Smith. Root was in the first place back in December 2021 before being replaced by Marnus Labuschagne and Smith after a disappointing end to the 2021/22 Ashes. Root is now only ten rating points behind Labuschagne. Root wasn’t the only England player to move up in the rankings, as James Anderson moved up two places to seventh in the Test bowling rankings.

In his comeback test, Anderson bowled well, taking six wickets. New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson was rewarded for his six-wicket spell, as he moved to third in the Test bowling rankings. England and New Zealand are scheduled to play a couple of more Test matches in their series [with one starting this Friday], which will likely impact the rankings even more.

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After Tuesday, Australia and Sri Lanka’s first T20 International, a couple of batters in the top ten, moved up. Aaron Finch, who scored an unbeaten 61 last night, moved up one place to fifth, while Pathum Nissanka, who scored 36, moved up two spots to seventh. Sri Lanka and Australia are scheduled to play two more T20Is before playing five ODIs and a couple of Tests.

KL Rahul is currently placed in the tenth position on the ICC T20 rankings. With five T20Is against South Africa, the stand-in skipper will hope to improve his ranking. South Africa’s Aidan Markram [second] and Rassie Van Der Dussen [eighth] are also in the top ten of the batting rankings, while Anrich Nortje is ranked seventh in the bowling rankings. All three of these players were named in South Africa’s squad for the upcoming series against India.