Marnus Labuschagne and Babar Azam topped the Test and T20I rankings for Test and T20I hitters respectively after impressive performances in their most recent engagements. For Labuschagne, this is the first time in first place, while for Babar, it is a return to the position where he slipped last week.
Labuschagne has had a purple spot in Test cricket since joining Steven Smith’s concussion substitute in Ashes Test at Lord’s in 2019 and currently has an average of 62.14 out of 20 tests. In the Ashes home series, he scored 74 and 0* in Brisbane and 103 and 51 in Adelaide, Australia leading England by 2-0.
Labuschagne had started the series at No.4 in the batting standings, but those innings have now given him a career score of 912, overtaking him Joe Root, who fell to second despite his good form and has 0 comebacks. , 89, 62 and 24 in the series so far. Smith, Kane Williamson and Rohit Sharma round out the top five.
Babar, meanwhile, had slipped from the perch between T20I hitters after scoring 0 and 7 in the first two T20Is against West Indies at home, but a 53ball 79 in the final game, which helped Pakistan seal a streak of 30, lo brought back to the top, tied on points with Dawid Malan.
Right below them is Babar’s opening partner Mohammad Rizwan, whose spectacular run during the year was capped with a 45-ball winner 87 in his last game against the West Indies in Karachi. These changes at the top meant a slide to No. 4 for Aiden Markram, while KL Rahul retain their spot in fifth place.
Back to the Ashes and Mitchell Starc entered the top ten in ninth place on the Test Bowls after his 6-for-80 clash in the Second Test against England, which included a four for the first set. Pat Cummins continues to lead the standings, followed by R Ashwin, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tim Southee and Josh Hazlewood.
Starc and Root also made gains in the versatile test table. Starc hit 39 * and 19 in the Adelaide test, and races matching the six wickets took him from No.1.7 to no. 6 on this list. Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shakib Al Hasan and Ben Stokes are on him. Meanwhile, Root’s three wickets in Adelaide, to accompany the 86 runs, took him to No. 10, a gain of two points.
