R Ashwin maintains top spot in bowlers rankings; Joe Root topples Marnus Labuschagne as World No. 1 batter | Cricket News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Ravichandran Ashwin, the premier offspinner from India, has maintained his position as the top-ranked bowler in the latest ICC Test rankings released on Wednesday. Meanwhile, England’s Joe Root surpassed Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne to claim the coveted title of the world’s top-ranked batter.
Ashwin, despite being overlooked for the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier this month, retained his status as the number one bowler with a total of 860 points. Following closely behind him is England’s James Anderson, securing the second spot with 829 points.
Among Indian bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah ranks eighth with 772 points, while Ravindra Jadeja holds the ninth position with 765 points, their rankings remaining unchanged.
In the batting rankings, India’s batting mainstay Virat Kohli slipped down one spot to claim the 14th position, while captain Rohit Sharma was placed at 12th. Cheteshwar Pujara maintained his spot at 25th, while Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer both moved up one place to secure the 36th and 37th positions, respectively.
Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper-batter, is the sole Indian representative in the top 10, holding the last spot.
The biggest change occurred at the top of the batting rankings, with Joe Root making an impressive leap of five places to dethrone Marnus Labuschagne.
These changes in rankings follow the thrilling finish of the Edgbaston Test match, where Australia narrowly defeated England by two wickets, taking a 1-0 lead in the ongoing Ashes series.
In the first Ashes Test, while Root showcased his brilliance with an unbeaten 118 in England’s first innings of 393 for eight declared—a decision that sparked intense debate following their subsequent loss—Marnus Labuschagne failed to leave a significant impact with the bat in both innings.
Root’s remarkable performances of 118 not out and 46, albeit in a losing cause, propelled the 32-year-old to climb an impressive five places and reclaim the coveted position of being the world’s top-ranked Test batter.
As a consequence of his scores of 0 and 13 against England, Labuschagne dropped to third place, making way for New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson to ascend two places and secure the second spot overall.
In the race to become the No.1 Test batter, fellow Australians Travis Head (down one place to fourth) and Steve Smith (falling four spots to sixth) also experienced setbacks, as the competition among the top six players intensifies with just a margin of 26 rating points separating them. It is undeniably one of the closest battles witnessed in recent times.
Regarding the bowlers’ rankings, South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada surpassed Australia captain Pat Cummins (824) to claim the third position with 825 points.