Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal excel in ICC rankings without playing Tests since March 2024
International Cricket Council (ICC) updated the latest Test rankings without even playing, India skipper Rohit Sharma continues to be the highest-ranked batter for the team in the format. Meanwhile, Joe Root continues to be on top but has lost rating points due to poor show in 3rd Test vs Sri Lanka.
Team India has not played a single Test match since March 2024 when they faced England in the five-match series at home. They are scheduled to play 10 more Test matches starting from September 19. But even then, in the latest ICC rankings, the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal have jumped one spot each to strengthen their position among the top 10 batters.
Skipper Rohit is the highest-ranked batter as he is at the fifth position with 751 rating points to his name. Jaiswal and Kohli follow him closely at the sixth and seven places respectively with 740 and 737 rating points. The trio has benefitted from Harry Brook's twin failures in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka which England lost at the Kennington Oval in London earlier this week. He could score only 19 and 3 runs in the two innings while batting in the middle-order.
Brook has slipped seven positions to 12th with 709 rating points even as Babar Azam has once again got closer to entering the top 10. He is at 11th place with 712 points to his name just behind his teammate Mohammad Rizwan and Australia's Marnus Labuschagne.
Coming back to the aforementioned trio of Indian batters, they have a chance to climb to the third position as there is not much difference from 3rd to 7th placed players. India will face Bangladesh in the first of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh on September 19 in Chennai. The team also has four more Tests to play at home - one against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand - and their ranking will depend on the performances in these matches.
Meanwhile, England's Joe Root was very close to attaining his all-time best ratings after the last update. He could only muster 25 runs across two innings against Sri Lanka in the Oval Test and that led to him losing 23 rating points. However, he is still retaining his top spot with 879 rating points to his name.
Top 10 batters in ICC Test rankings
| Rank | Players | Rating Points |
| 1 | Joe Root | 899 |
| 2 | Kane Williamson | 859 |
| 3 | Daryl Mitchell | 768 |
| 4 | Steve Smith | 757 |
| 5 | Rohit Sharma | 751 |
| 6 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | 740 |
| 7 | Virat Kohli | 737 |
| 8 | Usman Khawaja | 728 |
| 9 | Mohammad Rizwan | 720 |
| 9 | Marnus Labuschagne | 720 |