Joe Root raises his bat after scoring a century during 1st Test vs India in Nottingham
© AFP
Joe Root has become England's highest-ranked batsman in the ICC rankings for Test batsmen after hitting his fourth century of his career in the Trent Bridge Test against India, which ended in a draw on Sunday. (Virat Kohli tied with Hashim Amla at 2nd spot in ICC ODI Rankings for Batsmen )
The 23-year-old from Yorkshire scored a fine 154 not out and featured in a record 198-run last wicket stand with James Anderson (81). For this achievement, Root, who represented England in the U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand, has been rewarded with a jump of 10 places which has put him in a career-high 16th position.
Ian Bell is England's second highest-ranked batsman in 20th position, while captain Alastair Cook is in 25th position.
Root had started the season in 38th position and after three Tests, he has moved into 16th position, thus, gaining 22 places on the batting table. Given he is still in the qualification period for batsmen, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder if he performs strongly in the remaining four Tests of the series.
Also making good progress in the latest rankings are England's other young guns - Gary Ballance and Sam Robson. Ballance, who scored 71, has gained 13 places and is now in 70th position while Robson's 59 has helped him rise 16 places to 78th.
For India, opener Murali Vijay has shown upward movement. The 30-year-old from Chennai scored 146 and 52 and has jumped 12 places to 30th position. He is now India's fourth highest-ranked batsman after Cheteshwar Pujara (eighth), Virat Kohli (13th) and Mahenda Singh Dhoni (27th).
In the ICC Rankings for Test bowlers, England's Stuart Broad and India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the biggest movers. Broad returned match figures of four for 103, which has helped him rise four places to 10th position. Kumar picked up five for 82 in England's only innings which has allowed him to break into the top 50 for the first time in his career. He now sits in 46th spot after jumping 27 places.
Sri Lanka v South Africa Test series
Meanwhile, the two-Test series between Sri Lanka and South Africa starts in Galle on Wednesday with the tourists in with a chance to reclaim their number-one position on the ICC Test team table.
To regain the spot which South Africa lost to Australia after the annual update on May 1, the Proteas need to win the series which will be enough to put Hashim Amla's men ahead of Michael Clarke's charges. In this scenario, South Africa will move one ratings point ahead of Australia, while a 2-0 series win will put the visitors on 126 ratings points.
On the other hand, if Sri Lanka win the series then it will leapfrog England into fifth position while a 2-0 win will mean they will finish ahead of Pakistan and England in fourth spot.
The series will feature the top three batsmen in the world - number-one ranked AB de Villiers, second-ranked Kumar Sangakkara and third-ranked Hashim Amla - and two of the three best bowlers - number-one ranked Dale Steyn and third-ranked Vernon Philander.
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