ICC Rankings: Steve Smith rises to No.2 but Kane Williamson remains No.1, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma remain at these spots

Former Australia captain Steve Smith is enjoying a golden journey with the bat in the United Kingdom. After his hundred in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, Smith hit his 32nd Test century against England in the second Test at Lord’s last week. Smith’s ‘Player of the Match’ performance means he has jumped 4 places in the ICC Men’s Test rankings to reach second place with 882 points, just one point behind No. 1 batsman Kane Williamson of New Zealand.

England’s Joe Root dropped four places from his top ranking to No.5 for the premier English batsman last week following a modest performance in the Lord’s Test. Williamson benefited from Root’s loss and reached the number one spot.

Smith was last at the top in June 2021, when he replaced Williamson for a few weeks before being overtaken again by the New Zealand batsman. Root, who could only manage scores of 10 and 18, slipped to fifth position, allowing Williamson to regain the top spot. It is the sixth stint at the top for Williamson, who first held the number one spot in November 2015 and was last in August 2021.

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Team India wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, who has been out of action since his car accident in December last year, is the best-ranked Indian batsman at 10th position. Team India captain Rohit Sharma retained the 12th position while former England captain Virat Kohli remained at the 14th position. The two will look to move up in the rankings as India gear up to square off against the West Indies in a two-match Test series starting on July 12 in Rousseau.

The race to top the list will remain interesting in the coming days as Smith is just one point behind Williamson’s 883 rating points after the latest weekly update, while third-placed Marnus Labuschagne (873) and Travis Head are also separated . from just one point.

an amusing #Ashes Test at Lord’s leads to big changes at the top @mrfworldwide ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings _#iccranking , Description _https://t.co/zI3BcvjVnJ– ICC (@ICC) 5 July 2023

England batsman Ben Duckett has climbed 24 places to reach the top 20 for the first time in his career after scores of 98 and 83 in the second Ashes Test, while his skipper Ben Stokes has gained nine places after a brilliant 155 in the second Test. He is at 23rd position. Turn.

Australia captain Pat Cummins has moved up to second among bowlers after taking four wickets in the match, while left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc has moved up two places to 14th position with six wickets. Opener David Warner is ranked 26th among batsmen after scores of 66 and 25, gaining four places.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, Ireland batsman Harry Tector has moved up one place to joint sixth after scoring 60 against Nepal in the seventh-place play-off match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Harare. Scott Edwards of the Netherlands (up five places to 35th) and Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka (up eight places to 38th) are the other players to advance in the batting rankings.

In the bowling rankings, Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane has moved up five places to 24th position after taking three wickets against UAE. Sri Lankan off-spinner Mahesh Thikshana (up 21 places to 32nd) and Scottish fast bowler Chris Sole (up 23 places to 39th) have also made notable progress after impressive performances in the qualifiers.