England’s Harry Brook has reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings, dethroning teammate Joe Root after a commanding performance against India, even as India’s Shubman Gill and South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder notched career-best positions across formats in the latest weekly rankings update.
Brook’s superb knock of 158 in the first innings of the second Test in Birmingham pushed his rating to 886 points, 18 clear of Root. The Yorkshireman had previously reached the top in December last year but held the position only briefly. His latest surge ends Root’s six-month reign at the summit.
While Brook topped the rankings, the Edgbaston Test truly belonged to Shubman Gill. The Indian captain became only the second player in Test history to score over 150 in both innings of a match — 269 and 161 — taking his aggregate to 430 runs, the second-highest in a single Test. His heroics propelled him 15 places up the ladder to a career-best No. 6. Gill had started the series ranked 23rd.
Among other notable movers from the same match, Ravindra Jadeja climbed six places to 39th after scoring 89 and an unbeaten 69. England’s Jamie Smith broke into the top 10 for the first time, courtesy of his unbeaten 184 and 88 in the two innings, which lifted him 16 places.
India’s pace duo Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep made significant strides in the bowling charts. Siraj’s match haul of seven wickets saw him move up six places to 22nd. Akash Deep, who picked up a maiden 10-wicket match haul, jumped 39 places to a career-best 45th.
Mulder Shines Across Formats
South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder enjoyed a record-breaking outing in Bulawayo, smashing an unbeaten 367 — the highest score ever by a South African batter in Tests. That innings, coupled with his three wickets in the match, led to a leap of 34 places in the batting rankings (now 22nd), four places among bowlers (48th), and most notably, to No. 3 in the all-rounders' list — behind only India’s Jadeja and Bangladesh’s Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Mulder, who tallied 531 runs and seven wickets in the two-Test series, had begun the series ranked 73rd among batters, 58th among bowlers, and 22nd as an all-rounder.
David Bedingham (up to 43rd) and Lhuan-dre Pretorius (60th) also improved in the batting rankings, while Corbin Bosch advanced six places to 51st among bowlers.
West Indies, Australia Test Also Influences Rankings
In Grenada, the second Test between the West Indies and Australia saw several movements. Cameron Green (up to 45th) and Beau Webster (50th) made gains for Australia, while West Indies’ Roston Chase (81st) and Brandon King (up 60 places to 83rd) saw upward movement in the batting charts. Bowlers Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph climbed to 29th and 31st, respectively.
Sri Lankans Break into ODI Top 10
In ODIs, Sri Lanka’s series win over Bangladesh brought notable changes. Kusal Mendis’ century in the final match earned him a top-10 debut in the batting rankings, while Charith Asalanka moved to sixth after scoring 106 in the opener. Janith Liyanage rose to 44th, and Bangladesh’s Towhid Hridoy to 51st.
On the bowling front, Sri Lankan leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga made a return to the top 10, climbing 11 places to eighth.