England's Joe Root regain top spot in latest ICC Test rankings
Cricket
He overtook New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson to reclaim premier position
(Web Desk) - England star Joe Root has been rewarded for his excellent series against the West Indies by overtaking New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson and re-claiming his crown as the No.1 ranked batter on the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings.
Root managed a series-best 291 runs over three matches against the Caribbean side and his effort of 87 in the third and final Test of that series in Birmingham allowed the 33-year-old to catapult past Williamson and back into the top position he vacated last year.
The former England captain first became the No.1 ranked Test batter way back in August 2015 and his latest effort to climb to the top comes on the back of a strong series against the West Indies that saw him score his 32nd Test century and rise to seventh overall in the Test run-scorer list.
Williamson drops to second place on the Test batter rankings as a result of Root's recent surge, while Pakistan's Babar Azam (equal third), New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell (equal third), Australia's Steve Smith (fifth) and India's Rohit Sharma (sixth) all gain a spot as England's Harry Brook falls four rungs to seventh following a rare failure against the West Indies.
England captain Ben Stokes gains four places on the list for Test batters to rise to 30th following his cameo as opener against the West Indies, while teammates Mark Wood (up six spots to 20th) and Gus Atkinson (gains four places to 46th) are the main beneficiaries of a strong team performance with the ball in Birmingham as they climb the Test bowler rankings.
The good news for the West Indies from that third Test was the performance of Jayden Seales, with the young quick improving seven spots on the bowler charts to rise to equal 26th and a new career-high rating on the back of his three wickets in the first innings against England and 13 scalps for the series.
Stokes (up one place to sixth) and Chris Woakes (up three spots to ninth) make ground on the list for Test All-Rounders in a further boost for England as they stayed in touch with the ICC World Test Championship pacesetters, with India star Ravindra Jadeja remaining at the top of that category with a comfortable lead.
And it was a host of India's best white-ball performers that were the big winners on the latest T20I rankings, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (up two spots to fourth) and Shubman Gill (up 16 places to 21st and a new career-high rating) the biggest eye-catchers on the updated list for T20I batters following the team's series sweep over Sri Lanka away from home.
It's a similar story on the updated T20I bowler rankings, with former top-ranked spinner Ravi Bishnoi back inside the top 10 following an eight-spot jump.
Teammates Arshdeep Singh (up four spots to 19th), Washington Sundar (up six places to 40th) and Mohammed Siraj (up 37 rungs to 47th) also make some ground, while Sri Lanka will be buoyed by the ongoing improvement from Matheesha Pathirana that saw the speedster jump 13 places to equal 77th on the list for T20I bowlers.
There is also a major shake-up on the latest T20I rankings for all-rounders, with Australia's Marcus Stoinis claiming the No.1 spot once again despite his side not playing any 20-over cricket over the last week.
Stoinis replaces Wanindu Hasaranga at the top, with the Sri Lanka star dropping two places to fall to equal third after a relatively quiet series against India.
