Cook surges up batting rankings after double-ton

England opener Alastair Cook has made a strong charge up the ICC rankings for Test batsmen following a stellar performance in the day/night Test against the West Indies, which the hosts won by an innings and 209 runs at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Cook not only walked away with the man of the match award for his 243 i the first innings, but his fourth career double-century also earned him six points that has put him in sixth spot in the latest rankings.

This is former England skipper Cook’s highest ranking since he surged to number five in March 2013.

Cook, who achieved a career-high second place in September 2011, now has India captain Virat Kohli firmly within his sights as the England opener is just eight points behind the India captain.

England captain Joe Root has returned to the 900-point mark following his 13th career century.

For scoring 136, Root received 14 points, which has taken him to 905 points – 36 behind Australia captain Steve Smith, who will defend his number-one ranking in the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.

There is no change in the top 20 bowlers, but both England seamers, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, have gained valuable points after equally sharing 10 wickets between them with the pink ball at Edgbaston.

Second-ranked Anderson has trimmed number-one ranked Ravindra’s Jadeja’s lead to just nine points after collecting 15 points, while seventh-ranked Broad has picked up six points to narrow South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada’s lead to just four points.

The only good news for the Windies is the movement of batsman Jermaine Blackwood and allrounder Roston Chase in the batting and bowling tables respectively.

Blackwood, who scored 79 not out and 12, has moved up six places to 41st, while Chase, who took four for 113, has climbed four places and is now in 73rd place in the bowling chart.

BATSMEN (top 10)

Rank      ( /-)         Player                    Team     Points    Avge      Highest Rating

1           ( – )          Steve Smith          Aus         941!       61.05     941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

2           ( – )          Joe Root                Eng         905         54.07     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3           ( – )          Kane Williamson NZ           880         51.16     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4           ( – )          C. Pujara               Ind          876         52.65     888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

5           ( – )          Virat Kohli             Ind          806         49.55     895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

6           ( 6)         Alastair Cook        Eng         798         46.83     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

7           ( – )          Azhar Ali                Pak         769         46.86     787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

8           ( – )          Hashim Amla       SA           764         49.00     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

9           ( – )          Lokesh Rahul       Ind          761*!     46.27     761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

10         ( – )          Ajinkya Rahane   Ind          760         47.61     825 v NZ at Indore 2016

BOWLERS

Rank      ( /-)         Player                    Team     Points    Avge      Highest Rating

1           ( – )          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          884         23.60     899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

2           ( – )          James Anderson Eng         875         27.71     884 v SL at Durham 2016

3           ( – )          R. Ashwin              Ind          852         25.26     904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

4           ( – )          Josh Hazlewood  Aus         826         25.39     863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

5           ( – )          Rangana Herath  SL           809         28.25     867 v Zim at Harare 2016

6           ( – )          Kagiso Rabada    SA           785*      24.56     821 v SL at Johannesburg 2017

7           ( – )          Stuart Broad         Eng         781         28.47     880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

8           ( – )          Dale Steyn            SA           763         22.30     909 v Win at Centurion 2014

9           ( – )          Vernon Philander                SA           751         22.45     912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

10         ( – )          Neil Wagner         NZ           745         28.90     767 v SA at Dunedin 2017

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