Former English skipper Alastair Cook had begun 2017 in 15th position and entered the Ashes in 10th position. Meanwhile, Steve Smith’s contributions of 76 and 102* have not only strengthened his no.1 position but also given him sole possession of second place for the highest-ever ranking points.
On the other hand, England skipper Joe Root is the other batsman to improve his ranking, when he moved up one place to join his opposite number from New Zealand, Kane Williamson, in fourth place. Root and Williamson had started 2017 in third and fourth positions, respectively.
Australia deputy skipper David Warner is sixth, 24 points behind Root and Williamson, after his scores of 103 and 86 earned him 30 points. Warner had started 2017 in the fifth position.
India captain Virat Kohli struck perfect notes as he has entered 2018 as the number one batsman in ODIs. Apart from ODIs, Kohli has been pretty consistent in Tests and T20I as well. He is presently sitting at the second spot in the longer format while is third in T20Is.
The 29-year old was handed over the full-time captain’s role earlier this year after MS Dhoni stepped down from the position and he celebrated it with a hundred against England in Pune.
In the latest MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, there is no change in the top nine with England’s James Anderson leading the table. The Asian spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rangana Herath had started 2017 in the top three positions, and have finished at third, fourth and sixth places, respectively, while Australia’s Josh Hazlewood started and finished in the fifth spot.
Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is the number-one ranked all-rounder and he is followed by India’s Ravindra Jadeja.
ICC Test team rankings
ICC Test batsmen rankings
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ICC Test all-rounders rankings
