England captain Joe Root has shown great form in the five-Test series against India. Thanks to this, he has reached the top of the Test rankings. He has risen to the top of the Test rankings after almost six years. At the same time, Team India’s opener Rohit Sharma has joined the top-5 for the first time. He has overtaken Team India captain Virat Kohli.
The 30-year-old was ranked fifth at the start of the series but scored 507 runs in three Tests, leaving behind Virat Kohli, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. He is now 15 rating points ahead of Kane. Root was second before the Leeds Test. He scored 121 runs in this test.
Earlier, Root had reached the first place in the rankings in December 2015. Williamson then overtook him. Then Kohli and Smith have also been on top. Only one of these four batsmen has been at the top position since November 2015. Then South Africa’s AB de Villiers was on top. Root is now just one point behind his career-best 917 rating points, which he achieved after scoring 130 against Australia in Nottingham in August 2015.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has overtaken skipper Virat Kohli to break into the top five. Team India’s opener scored 19 and 59 runs in Leeds. This gave him a place advantage and he achieved his Test career best ranking. His rating is seven points more than Kohli.
The last time an Indian batsman other than Kohli was in the top five was in November 2017, when Cheteshwar Pujara was second and Kohli fifth. Pujara scored 91 in the second innings of the Leeds Test. This gave them a three-place advantage and they moved up to 15th place. Rishabh Pant has lost four places and has moved up to 12th position.
Among bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah has moved up from 10th to ninth place. England’s fast bowlers have also benefited. James Anderson is back in the top five fast bowlers. Taking four wickets in the match saw him gain one place, while player of the match Ollie Robinson has gained nine places to move up to 36th.