Root becomes England's best-ranked batsman

Cricket365
July 16, 2014

Joe Root has become England's highest-ranked batsman in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after hitting his fourth century of his career in the Trent Bridge Test against India, which ended in a draw on Sunday.

The 23-year-old from Yorkshire scored a fine 154 not out and featured in a record 198-run last wicket stand with James Anderson (81). For this achievement, Root, who represented England in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2010 in New Zealand, was rewarded with a jump of 10 places which put him in a career-high 16th position.

Ian Bell is England's second highest-ranked batsman in 20th position, while captain Alastair Cook is in 25th position.

Root had started the season in 38th position and after three Tests, he moved into 16th position, thus, gaining 22 places on the batting table. Given he is still in the qualification period for batsmen, it is likely that he will move even further up the ladder if he performs strongly in the remaining four Tests of the series.

Also making good progress in the latest rankings are England's other young guns – Gary Ballance and Sam Robson.

Ballance, who scored 71, gained 13 places and is now in 70th position while Robson's 59 helped him rise 16 places to 78th.

For India, opener Murali Vijay has shown upward movement. The 30-year-old from Chennai scored 146 and 52 and has jumped 12 places to 30th position. He is now India's fourth highest-ranked batsman after Cheteshwar Pujara (eighth), Virat Kohli (13th) and Mahenda Singh Dhoni (27th).

In the rankings for Test Bowlers, England's Stuart Broad and India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the biggest movers. Broad returned match figures of four for 103, which has helped him rise four places to 10th position.

Kumar picked up five for 82 in England's only innings which has allowed him to break into the top 50 for the first time in his career. He now sits in 46th spot after jumping 27 places.