ICC Test Rankings: Babar Azam displaces Steve Smith, climbs to career best No.2 in latest rankings for batters

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has risen to second place in the current ICC Test rankings for batsmen, with Steve Smith dropping to third place.

Marnus Labuschgane, who is at the top of the pile, is followed by Azam, who has 875 rating points. On the backdrop of two fifty-plus scores against England in the third Test, the 28-year-old achieved his career-best position of second.

Smith had a poor batting performance in the first Test against South Africa; he returned with scores of 36 and 6, falling to third place, five points behind Azam.

On the up 

Babar Azam achieves yet another milestone in the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Test Player Rankings https://t.co/06H1QIqUjO

— ICC (@ICC) December 21, 2022

Travis Head, who is now going through a hard period, entered the top five ranks for the first time and is now tied with Joe Root in fourth place on 826 rating points.

Ollie Pope (+1 to No. 28) and Ben Stokes (+2 to No. 23) both advanced in the rankings. Harry Brook, who won Player of the Series against Pakistan, climbed 11 spots to enter the top 50 and is placed at 44th position in the latest rankings.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill, two Indian batters who both got hundreds against Bangladesh in the first Test, saw significant increases in their rankings. At the most recent update, Pujara moved up 19 spots to land in position 19, while Gill moved up 10 spots to tie for position 54.

After their performance against Bangladesh, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav saw significant advances. Patel, who recently entered the top 20 for the first time in his career, is currently ranked No. 18, while Yadav advanced 19 spots to No. 49.

Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of Bangladesh, surpassed Ben Stokes in the all-rounders rankings. The England captain dropped to fourth, and Shakib moved up to No. 3.

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