Joe Root on the verge of dethroning Kane Williamson as No.1 Test batter, Harry Brook surges past Rohit Sharma

England National Cricket Team batters Joe Root and Harry Brook made huge gains in the latest ICC rankings. The ICC Test rankings for batters were updated on Wednesday (24th July). This comes after the duo played sensationally well in the recently concluded second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

Joe Root and Harry Brook were one of the major reasons behind the massive win of the England National Cricket Team in the second Test against West Indies. They came up with a superlative effort as the Ben Stokes-led side bagged a 241-run victory in the game to take an unassailable lead of 2-0.

Joe Root slammed his 32nd Test ton and ended with an innings of 122 runs off 178 balls. He also slammed 10 fours during his knock and continued his golden touch with the bat in the longest format of the game. His knock in the second Test earned him a huge reward in the ICC Test rankings for batters.

Joe Root gained 12 rating points to close within seven rating points of the New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson, who is the No.1 ranked Test batter. The England batter has a great chance to dethrone Kiwi great from the top if he comes with another good outing with the bat in the third game.

On the other hand, Harry Brook slammed his 5th Test century and ended with an innings of 109 runs off 132 balls. The right-hander also slammed 13 fours in his innings. With his ton, he also completed 1300 runs in the longest format of the game in just 14 games.

His 5th Test ton saw him bagging a career-best 3rd spot in the ICC Test rankings for batters. Harry Brook moved four spots in the rankings and surpassed Babar Azam, Daryl Mitchell, Steve Smith, and Rohit Sharma to bag the position behind Joe Root in the Test rankings.

Ben Duckett climbed six spots to 16th, while Ollie Pope moved up eight places to 21st after their vital hands in the second Test. West Indies batters Kraigg Brathwaite (up two places to 40th), Joshua Da Silva (up seven spots to 61st), and Kavem Hodge (up 21 rungs to 75th) also made substantial gains.

Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir rise in ICC Test bowler rankings

Apart from the ICC Test batter rankings, there were quite a few changes in the bowler rankings as well. Chris Woakes, after his six wickets in the game against West Indies, moved up four places and got inside the top 20 for the first time since September 2021.

Chris Woakes played a huge role in the game with the ball. He has been handed the responsibility of handling the new ball in the absence of James Anderson. He has stood tall on it and is making sure that he takes his team to a good start in the games with the ball.

England spinner Shoaib Bashir, who picked a five-wicket haul in the second innings, also made a huge gain. He moved 18 places to 53rd while West Indies quick Jayden Seales gained 10 places and comes in at 34th after his six scalps during the Nottingham contest.