Joe Root inches closer to number-one spot in latest ICC Test Rankings

Joe Root (Pic: File Pic)

England's Joe Root moved up seven points closer to top-ranked New Zealand's Kane Williamson in the latest ICC Test rankings.

Following England's solid win in the second Test match against West Indies, the "Three Lions" stars have seen making big gains in the latest ICC Men's Test rankings.

England won the match by 241 runs against West Indies in the Trent Bridge contests and stalwart Joe Root showcased his batting prowess by smashing his 32nd Test century to move within striking distance of Kane Williamson and the number one ranking for Test batters.

Joe Root improved 12 rating points to close within seven rating points of the New Zealand veteran Williamson and could re-claim top billing with another strong showing with the bat during the third and final Test against the West Indies in Birmingham starting from Friday onwards.

Teammate Harry Brook is the big mover up the batter rankings, with the 25-year-old improving four spots to a career-best place of third. He surpassed Babar Azam, Daryl Mitchell, Steve Smith and Rohit Sharma in the process, following his century in the second innings in Nottingham.

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England's rising star Ben Duckett secured 16th spot and Olli Pope moved to the 21st spot. West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite moved to the 40th spot Joshua Da Silva to the 61st and Kavem Hodge to the 75th spot.

The most eye-catching move on the Test bowler rankings came from Chris Woakes, with the England pacer jumping four places and back inside the top 20 for the first time since September 2021 following his match haul of six wickets against the West Indies.

Following the five-wicket haul, young spinner Shoaib Bashir moved to 53rd rank. West Indies' Jayden Seales also secured 34th with his six wickets during the Nottingham clash.

The Englishmen are leading the three-match series by 2-0 against West Indies. Ben Stokes and Co. have a chance to whitewash the series if they manage to secure victory in the third match.

There was little change to the rankings in both white-ball formats, although a pair of Namibian players made some ground on the ODI rankings on the back of some good performances in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup League 2 in Dundee.

Left-arm spinner Bernard Scholtz gains four places to move to sixth on the list for ODI bowlers with a new career-high rating following his three-wicket haul against Scotland, while teammate and captain Gerhard Erasmus gains one spot to move to fifth on the list for ODI all-rounders after scoring 63 and claiming two wickets in the same match.

(With ANI Inputs)