DUBAI: England’s Joe Root has taken over Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam as the third-ranked player in the ICC Test batting rankings. 

According to International Cricket Council’s latest ranking updates, Root jumped ahead of Babar and Australia’s Travis Head to the third spot after his superb comeback in the second Test against New Zealand.

Babar dropped one spot to fourth with 862 rating points as Root went nine points ahead of him.

However, Australian duo Marnus Labuschagne (912) and Steve Smith (875) remain first and second respectively on the list.

Former skipper Root scored 153 and 95 respectively during Enland’s stunning loss to New Zealand by one run in the recent Wellington Test.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Tom Blundell stepped into the top 10, moving four places to the seventh after he helped the Black Caps with a crucial 83 during the follow-on innings in the same Test.

Young Englishman Harry Brook, however, continues his impressive run with bat as well as on the rankings charts as he climbed 15 places to draw level with Virat Kohli in 16th after another brilliant century.

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