The former captain drops three places to 15th
Pakistan’s key players, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan, have experienced declines in the latest ICC Test rankings, while England’s Joe Root continues his ascent, solidifying his reputation as one of the greatest Test batters of all time.
Root’s career-best performance, highlighted by a monumental double-century (262 runs) in England’s dominant win over Pakistan in Multan, propelled his rating to 932 points, a personal high. This new mark secures his position atop the ICC Men’s Test Batter Rankings, surpassing his previous best of 923 points. Root now leads the rankings by more than 100 points, with teammate Harry Brook and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson tied for second place. Brook’s impressive triple-century against Pakistan also boosted him 11 spots in the rankings. Together, he and Root set records with their 454-run stand for the fourth wicket, contributing to a commanding win over Pakistan. Ben Duckett also rose five places to 14th after his solid knock of 84 runs.
For Pakistan, Agha Salman and captain Shan Masood made gains, with Salman climbing 11 places to 22nd and Masood leaping 12 places to 51st in the Test batter rankings.
In the bowling rankings, England’s Gus Atkinson moved up three places to 23rd, while Jack Leach jumped nine places to 28th after a strong series against Pakistan. Joe Root also advanced to third in the all-rounder rankings.
On the Pakistani side, Babar Azam dropped three places to 15th with 684 rating points, while Mohammad Rizwan fell 12 spots to 19th with 678 points. Abdullah Shafique, however, improved by two spots, reaching 39th.
In the bowling rankings, Shaheen Afridi slipped out of the top 10, now ranked 14th with 681 points, while Hasan Ali and Naseem Shah dropped to 34th and 36th, respectively.