Rishabh Pant climbs to career-high 7th in ICC Test batting rankings

Shubman Gill breaks into top 20 as Jasprit Bumrah maintains No.1 spot; England stars also move up

Dubai: India’s swashbuckling wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant reached a career-high seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings for batters on Wednesday, following his twin centuries in the series-opener against England in Leeds. Pant, who became only the second wicketkeeper to hit two hundreds in the same match during the first Test of the five-match series, climbed one spot in the list. Before the 27-year-old Pant joined him, Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower remained the sole stumper with two centuries in the same Test match. Pant struck 134 and 118 in the thrilling Leeds Test that England won by five wickets.

India’s new Test captain Shubman Gill jumped five rungs to 20th overall following his century in the first innings of the match that his team lost by five wickets despite setting England a stiff target of 371. England veteran Joe Root remained the No.1 ranked Test batter, with teammate Harry Brook his closest challenger. There was little change in the rankings for Test bowlers, with India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah maintaining his place at the top of the charts following yet another five-wicket haul in the Headingley Test. Meanwhile, Ben Duckett, adjudged Player of the Match for his scores of 62 and 149 in England’s victory, jumped five places to eighth, while his teammates Ollie Pope (up three spots to 19th) and Jamie Smith (up eight places to 27th) also made significant gains. England skipper Ben Stokes rose three places to fifth in the Test all-rounders list following solid contributions with both bat and ball.

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The drawn first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh saw a host of their players make inroads in the latest batters’ rankings. Mushfiqur Rahim led the way with his innings of 163 in Galle, gaining 11 spots to move to 28th. Teammate Najmul Hossain Shanto jumped a whopping 21 places to improve to 29th after scoring a pair of tons in the same match.