NEWS
Follow UsEngland skipper Joe Root, who at Lord’s struck his fifth Test century of 2021, has seen his prolific run of form take him to second spot in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen. Root, who struck an unbeaten 180* in the first innings at Lord’s, entered the second Test behind both Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
However, an astonishing tally of 213 runs in the game has seen the England skipper jump to second spot, behind Kane Williamson (901). Root (893) has a two-point lead over third-placed Smith, while there is a sizable gap between him and fourth-placed Labuschagne (878). All four batters are, however, well clear of Virat Kohli (776), whose middling outing in the second Test has seen him stay stagnant at fifth.
Rohit Sharma (773) and Rishabh Pant (736) are the other two Indian batsmen in the top ten, placed sixth and seventh respectively, while Rahane (joint fourteenth) is the only other Indian in the Top 15. There is, however, considerable movement for Pakistan's Babar Azam (725), whose fifty in the second innings at Kingstson has seen him overtake three players to jump to eighth spot.
Pat Cummins, meanwhile, has retained top spot for bowlers, with James Anderson being the only notable mover in the Top Ten. Anderson, at Lord’s, picked the 31st five-wicket haul of his career, and the veteran’s performance has seen him jump to sixth spot, marginally behind Neil Wagner.
There is also bad news on the all-rounder’s front for India as Ravindra Jadeja has seen himself slip to third spot, behind both Jason Holder and Ben Stokes. Jadeja had a middling outing with both bat and ball in the second Test, and the grim showing has seen him fall three points behind second-placed Stokes.