Last Updated on 6 months by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Test batting rankings: Joe Root back at number 1 | Joe Root overtakes Marnus Labuschagne as the number 1 Test batsman
Joe Root has reclaimed the number one position in the ICC Test batting rankings. Root, who has struck two sublime centuries in as many Tests in England’s series against New Zealand, has overtaken Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne as the world’s number one Test batsman.
It has been a dream 18 months for England’s star player. Since the beginning of 2021, Root has scored an incredible 2,371 runs at an average of 57.3 with 10 centuries. Recently, he became the second England player after Alastair Cook to notch 10,000 Test runs, bringing up the milestone with a memorable century to seal the third-highest successful run chase at Lord’s earlier this month.
Also read: List of England’s all-time leading run scorers in Tests
Joe Root moves to 897 points in the Test rankings
Labuschagne held the number one position since December 2021, before a relatively quiet series in Pakistan where he scored 170 runs at an average of 34.00 on excellent batting pitches. However, he will get a chance to reclaim the top spot when Australia takes on Sri Lanka in two Tests starting on June 29.
Root will be looking to continue his dream form. His 115* at Lord’s and 176 at Trent Bridge has elevated him to 897 ranking points. England’s number four has another Test against New Zealand to come, as well as a one-off Test against India and three highly-anticipated matches at home to South Africa.
Who are the top 10 in the ICC Test batting rankings?
Four Australians occupy the top 10 spots in the batting rankings. Babar Azam, after his superb series against Australia earlier this year, is in fourth, while the great Virat Kohli finds himself way down in tenth.
- Joe Root (England): 897
- Marnus Labuschagne (Australia): 892
- Steve Smith (Australia): 845
- Babar Azam (Pakistan): 818
- Kane Williamson (New Zealand): 798
- Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka): 772
- Usman Khawaja (Australia): 757
- Rohit Sharma (India): 754
- Travis Head (Australia): 744
- Virat Kohli (India): 742
