Marnus Labuschagne overtakes Joe Root for top spot in ICC Test Rankings
Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne has climbed to the top of the ICC Test rankings, courtesy his recent knocks of 103 and 51 in the Adelaide Test. Pakistan captain Babar Azam has risen to the No. 1 spot in T20I rankings, returning to the position he had slipped down from, only last week.
Marnus Labuschagne has been in impressive form through the last two years, and has been doing so in the ongoing Ashes series. He has scores of 74, 103, 51 so far in the series and has played a vital role in Australia leading by 2-0.
The right-hander has now been rewarded for his consistent performances in the Ashes, earning a top spot in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen, having surpassed England skipper Joe Root. He has a career-high 912 rating points. Virat Kohli has slipped a place in the rankings, and is now placed at the seventh position.
As for the T20Is, Babar Azam, who had slipped from the top position after scores of 0 and 7 in first two T20Is in a recently concluded home series against West Indies, reclaimed the top spot after he scored 79 off 53 in the third T20I. The Pakistan skipper is tied along with Dawid Malan on points. Mohammed Rizwan, Aiden Markram and KL Rahul round off the top five.
Mitchell Starc has entered the top ten in the bowling rankings after six wickets against England in the second Test and is placed at ninth. Pat Cummins, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tim Southee and Josh Hazlewood are the top five placed bowlers in the rankings. Also, Starc and Root made progress in the all-rounder rankings. Starc is placed at the sixth position, while Root is at tenth in the table topped by Jason Holder.