New Delhi: Australia batsman Travis Head climbed the ladder in the latest rankings released by the game’s governing body on Wednesday, July 12. The rankings were upgraded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the third Test match of the Ashes series.
Kane Williamson still on top
The 29-year-old batsman made a significant improvement in his rankings and became the top-ranked batsman in the longest format of the game. Travis Head is in second place with 874 points and just inches away from the top spot. Veteran New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson is still at the top spot with 833 points.
Head’s Ashes statistics
The left-handed batsman, who scored 163 in the WTC final against India last month, has so far scored three half-centuries in three Ashes Tests. In the third Test, he played innings of 39 and 77 runs. He has scored a total of 266 runs at an average of over 44 and is now in contention to dislodge Williamson to become the number one Test batsman in the world.
Babar Azam gets advantage
There has been another reshuffle at the top of the batting rankings with Head rising to the top of the batsmen’s list, with Pakistan captain Babar Azam gaining 3 points to move up to third. At the same time, Steve Smith slipped to number four with a loss of two places. Apart from this, Marnus Labushen slipped to fifth and Joe Root to sixth place.
There was plenty of good news for England after a close three-wicket win in Leeds, with skipper Ben Stokes, young batsman Harry Brook also reaching a career-best rating of 12th after a fine half-century in the second innings. , Ben Stokes made a significant rise, his ranking improved by 5 points.
The only Indian in the top 10
Apart from Rishabh Pant, no other Indian player features in the top 10 list. He is followed by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma who are at 13th and 14th position respectively.