Joe Root has taken back the top spot in the Test batting rankings back from team-mate Harry Brook
Akeal Hosein leads the list of spinners who sit on top of the T20I bowlers’ rankings • Getty Images
Akeal Hosein has gone on top of the ICC T20I rankings for bowlers after claiming two wickets in the opening game against Bangladesh. With his 2 for 13 in the thriller West Indies lost in St Vincent, Hosein jumped three places to go past three other spinners: Adil Rashid, Wanindu Hasaranga and Adam Zampa.
Meanwhile, Babar Azam went up a place to sixth among T20I batters while his captain Mohammad Rizwan slipped from sixth to eighth after the T20I series in South Africa, and Reeza Hendricks broke into the top ten by going up six places to rank ninth after his scintillating 117 off 63 in the second T20I in Centurion.
In the Test rankings, Joe Root has regained his place at the top of batters’ chart after scores of 32 and 54 in the third Test in Hamilton, which England lost by a massive 423 runs. His team-mate Harry Brook moved back to second after scoring 0 and 1 in the same Test.
Root earned his top spot back only a week after Brook had taken the No. 1 spot after two prolific Tests in Wellington and Christchurch. On Tuesday, he also finished third in the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.
The bigger climb came from third-ranked Kane Williamson – although only in rating points, not in rankings – who moved within 28 points of Root’s 895 with scores of 44 and 156, his 33rd Test hundred, in Tim Southee’s farewell game.
Matt Henry‘s rise to seventh spot was the only movement among the top ten Test bowlers after the fast bowler took 4 for 48 and 2 for 62 in New Zealand’s victory in Hamilton. England’s Gus Atkinson gained five places to eighth among Test allrounders after he took four wickets in the third Test while also chipping in with scores of 43 and 4.
