The former England captain across formats, Joe Root, is not the number one batter of the longest format in the International Cricket Council (ICC), anymore. His described ‘best player of the world’ Harry Brook has gone to the top on the back of his 123 and 55 scores in the second Test in New Zealand, which came on the back of 171 in the opening Test.
Given Root also celebrated 106 in the second innings of the Basin Reserve Test, the difference between the two batters in the ICC rankings is just one point. England have already sealed the series with a 2-0 lead upon their 323-run victory in the second Wellington Test match.
The progress of both of these Yorkshire batters during the third Test in Hamilton will determine if Brook retains his ICC number one position or Root takes back the clown a week later. The veteran right-handed batter was on the spot since July, having gone past Kane Williamson at number, three, to find himself in this position nine times over his career.
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At the age of just 25, Harry has already notched up 2280 runs in 38 innings across 23 Tests, with an average of over 61, shouldering on eight centuries and the best score of a mammoth 317 against Pakistan in Multan in October this year.
This has been one of the busiest periods for the red-ball format, with Australia hosting India in the five-match series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Two of the fixtures have already been played so far, with the series labeled at 1-1. South Africa just finished their 2-0 series win at home over Sri Lanka and gears up for another challenge against Pakistan.
Jasprit Bumrah receives a new challenge in ICC ranking from the Australian captain
Travis Head, the left-handed middle-order batter for Australia, has already smashed a 140-run knock in the first innings of the second BGT Test in the day-night affair at the Adelaide Oval to set up their 10-wicket win. He has gone up six spots to fifth, while the SA captain Temba Bavuma, on the back of his 78 and 66 scores in the second encounter in Gqeberha, has raised three places up to seventh in the ICC rankings.
Bavuma was also named the player of the series for his tally of 327 runs in four innings, as he celebrated a century in the second innings of the first Durban Test. Marnus Labuschagne, who drilled 64 runs in the first innings, went up three spots to get to 13th in the ICC rankings.
The right-handed veteran batter of Sri Lanka, Dinesh Chandimal, and the keeper batter of the Proteas, Kyle Verreynne, have also climbed up to the Test batter charts. Virat Kohli, depending on his poor performances, has found himself at number 20 while Steve Smith has fallen to 11. Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, is out of 30.
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India’s premier pacer, Jasprit Bumrah, has retained the top spot with fresh competition from Australia’s Pat Cummins (one spot up to fourth in the ICC ranking) and the Kiwi seamer, Matt Henry (one place up to ninth).
Mitchell Starc, Chris Woakes, and Gus Atkinson, all of these pacers, along with the SA spinner, Keshav Maharaj, have moved back to inside the top 20. In the case of the ODI rankings, The West Indies captain, Shai Hope, has risen to eighth in the ICC list of batters. In T20Is, the Pakistan captain, Mohammad Rizwan, has jumped two places to move sixth on the list.