Pakistan Test cricket captain and stylish batter Babar Azam has jumped to third place in the latest ICC Test batting rankings, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Babar Azam has moved up three places after Steve Smith (855), Marnus Labuschagne (849), and Joe Root (842) all lost points on the conclusion of the third Ashes Test.
Babar now has 862 points, which is just 21 points behind the current world number one, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson (883 points).
Australian star Travis Head is the newest challenger for the top spot after the in-form left-hander rose to a career-high second place on the latest ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings. Head jumps two places and up to second behind New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson on the back of his tremendous Ashes series against England that has already netted the 29-year-old a total of 266 runs at an average of 44.33.
In the most recent Test of that series in Headingley, Head contributed scores of 39 and 77 and was a major reason why the visitors went close to recording a third consecutive Ashes victory.
Head’s rise up the batting charts has seen yet another reshuffle at the top of the batting rankings, with Pakistan captain Babar Azam jumping three places to third and fellow Australians Steve Smith (fourth) and Marnus Labuschagne (fifth) and England’s Joe Root (sixth) all dropping one spot in what is an enthralling race for top billing.
There was plenty of good news for England following the narrow three-wicket triumph in Leeds, with young gun Harry Brook rising one place to a career-high rating and 12th place in the rankings after his superb half-century in the second innings and skipper Ben Stokes improved five spots to 18th.
England’s seamers also enjoyed some joy via the latest Test bowler rankings, with veteran right-armer Stuart Broad improving four spots to sixth behind Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and returning pacer Mark Wood jumping nine places to 26th overall following his Player of the Match heroics against the Aussies.
Australia quick Mitchell Starc claimed seven wickets in that Headingley Test and was duly rewarded with a three-spot jump on the bowler rankings to 11th overall.