Star batsman Babar Azam has seemingly lost the form that once made him a global sensation, as he has dropped out of the top 10 in the ICC Men’s Test Batters Ranking for the first time in over four and a half years. The former captain has now slipped to No. 12 with 712 points after falling three places, reflecting his recent dip in performance.
This decline is highlighted by the fact that the 29-year-old has not scored a half-century in his last 16 Test innings and managed only 64 runs across four innings in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh on home soil.
Currently, Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistani batter remaining in the top 10, holding the 10th spot. Saud Shakeel, another key player for Pakistan, has also seen a drop, falling from 13th to 20th place. Meanwhile, Salman Ali Agha has made progress, climbing nine spots to reach 31st position.
On the other hand, England’s Joe Root has reclaimed the top position in the ICC Test Batter Rankings following two consecutive centuries in the second Test against Sri Lanka. Root now holds 922 rating points, putting him just one point away from his career-best rating of 923, achieved in July 2022.
Root is now in pursuit of joining the ranks of Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, and Peter May as one of the highest-rated English Test batters in history. Despite Root’s impressive performance, Gus Atkinson was named player of the match for his all-round contribution, which included moving up 48 spots in the all-rounder rankings and into the top 30 for bowlers.
On the Sri Lankan side, despite the loss at Lord’s, players like Kamindu Mendis and Asitha Fernando made notable gains. Mendis jumped 11 spots to 25th in the batting rankings, while Fernando moved into the top 10 for bowlers.
Bangladesh’s clean sweep series win against Pakistan saw several of their players achieve personal milestones. Litton Das, who rescued Bangladesh from 26/6 with a score of 138, climbed 12 places to reach 15th in the batting rankings. His partner, Mehedy Hasan Miraz, not only moved up to 75th in batting but also climbed to 7th in the all-rounders’ list after his impressive 5-61 figures in Pakistan’s first innings. Additionally, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana achieved career-best rankings on the bowling side.
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