DUBAI: England’s experienced batter Joe Root brought an end to Marnus Labuschagne’s reign as the No.1 ranked Test batter in the world, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Wednesday.
Marnus Labuschagne held the premier position for just over six months, with the right-hander rising to the top in December last year on the back of a strong start to the Australian summer against the West Indies.
But a slow start to 2023 by his lofty standards, coupled with Joe Root’s 30th Test century against Australia in the dramatic first Ashes Test at Edgbaston has seen a major shakeup at the top of the batter rankings.
Joe Root managed scores of 118* and 46 in a losing cause during the first Ashes Test in Birmingham and those superb individual efforts saw the 32-year-old rise a massive five places and regain his place as the No.1 ranked Test batter in the world.
Marnus Labuschagne drops to third as a result of scores of 0 and 13 against England, with Kiwi veteran Kane Williamson jumping two places to second overall.
Fellow Australians Travis Head (down one place to fourth) and Steve Smith (drops four spots to sixth) also lose ground in the race to become the No.1 Test batter, with just 26 rating points now separating the top six players in what is one of the closest battles seen in recent times.
Australia opener Usman Khawaja was adjudged Player of the Match for his heroics against England and the 36-year-old rose to a new career-best rating and seventh place overall, while young gun Harry Brook also earnt the highest mark of his short Test career by jumping five places to 13th on the latest Test rankings.
Meanwhile, Pakistan all-format captain Babar Azam retained his fifth spot in the updated ICC Test Batting Rankings.
The new rankings for bowlers didn’t show nearly as much change, with India’s Ravichandran Ashwin holding his lead at the top over England’s James Anderson, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada, and Australia’s Pat Cummins.
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