Marnus Labuschagne's No. 1 spot under threat after latest Men's ICC Test Rankings
Australia star and No. 1-ranked Test batter Marnus Labuschagne's rare failure has allowed others to gain some ground on him in the latest Men's ICC Test Rankings.
Labuschagne was dismissed for just 14 runs in the second Test against South Africa in Melbourne. In the same Test, Steve Smith scored a fantastic knock of 85, which has propelled him to second position in the rankings. Smith pipped Pakistan skipper Babar Azam to the spot by a solitary point.
Azam, meanwhile, slipped to third position in the Men's ICC Test Rankings among batters. However, his sensational 161 in Karachi against New Zealand ensured that he reached his career-best tally of 882 rating points.
He is just one away from Steve Smith (883) and 43 away from Marnus Labuschagne (925) at the top.
It's worth noting that Labuschagne responded with a superb 79 in the first innings of the ongoing Test between Australia and South Africa. Smith, meanwhile, registered his 30th century in the format in the same innings before being dismissed for 104.
The race to become the No.1 Test batter on the @MRFWorldwide ICC Men's Player Rankings is getting tight 👀
Details 👇
icc-cricket.com/news/3008227
Kane Williamson breaks into top 5 of Men's ICC Test Rankings among batters
Kane Williamson proved why he is one of the best in the longest format by smashing his fifth Test double-hundred in the Karachi Test against Pakistan.
In doing so, he went past Brendan McCullum's tally of four. Williamson also jumped above both Joe Root and Rishabh Pant into fifth place in the Men's ICC Test Rankings for batters with 828 rating points.
Double hundred for Kane Williamson. His 5th Double Hundred in Test cricket. He scored 200* runs from 393 balls against Pakistan - What a player. https://t.co/w164FlKsun
Daryl Mitchell, who has had an incredible past 10 months in Test cricket, also entered the top 10 of the rankings with his fine performance in the Karachi Test. Mitchell scored a handy 42 as the Kiwis piled on 612 runs in the first innings.
New Zealand opener Devon Conway, who scored 92 in that very innings, also rose to 24th position in the Men's ICC Test Rankings among batters.
David Warner's emotional double hundred in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa saw him rise from 31st to 14th position in the rankings. The veteran southpaw seems to be far from done as he looks to rediscover his form.
Meanwhile, Pat Cummins continues to lead the Test rankings amongst bowlers, sitting 37 points ahead of England veteran James Anderson.
South African Marco Jansen has been impressive with both bat and ball in the ongoing series against Cummins' Australia. He finds himself in 12th position in the rankings among all-rounders.