ICC Test Rankings- Joe Root Claims his Throne as No. 1 Test Batter

England’s Joe Root reclaimed the top position in the ICC Test batter rankings on 31st July. Joe got this position as he surpassed the former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. Root had a good go in the Test series against West Indies which was recently concluded. He scored 291 runs, which included a century, helping England cleanly sweep the opponent team.

Root scored 87 runs in the third Test, which was also the final Test of the series. This helped him gain 12 points which moved him to 87 rating points. With this ranking, he surpassed Williamson with his ranking of 859. This is the ninth time in his career that Root has reached the top ranking. The first time he reached the top ranking was in August 2015.

While Root took over the top spot, previously occupied by Williamson, Pakistan’s Babar Azam, New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell, Australia’s Steve Smith and India’s Rohit Sharma each gained a spot. These four batters moved up as England’s middle order batter Harry Brook slipped to seventh position after having his career-best of third position last week. A single-digit score in third Test dropped him down to seventh position.

England captain Ben Stokes has moved up four positions to the 30th, as he scored 54 runs in the first innings and an unbeaten 57 off 28 balls in the second innings as Edgbaston, Birmingham. The knock of 95 by England’s young wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith lifted him also. He moved up 31 places to 64th position. West Indies batter Kavem Hodge also moved up three places to 72nd position.

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