Travis Head makes giant leap in latest ICC Men's Test rankings
Australian middle-order batter Travis Head made a massive leap in the latest ICC Men's Test rankings, thanks to his outstanding knock in the first Test against the West Indies.
The 30-year-old produced one of his vintage knocks, counter-attacking with the team in trouble, scoring 119 off 134 deliveries. His knock helped the Aussies recover from a dicey 67/3 to 283 in their first innings.
Head moved up by seven places to be joint-fifth with New Zealand's Daryll Mitchell in the Test rankings. Kiwi star Kane Williamson still holds the top spot among batters, closely followed by England's Joe Root and the Aussie pair of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
Head was Australia's clutch performer in 2023, scoring match-winning centuries in the title-clinching games of the World Test Championship (WTC) and the ODI World Cup.
Furthermore, the Aussies found joy in the Test bowlers' rankings, with Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon rewarded for their performances in the first Test against the West Indies.
Hazlewood's nine-wicket outing in Adelaide saw him jump three places and crack the top five to claim fourth position. Lyon moved up by a spot to be the final member of the top ten in the bowler rankings.
India's Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be atop the Test bowling rankings, followed closely by Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and South African speedster Kagiso Rabada.
Team India and New Zealand batters enjoy rise on the latest Men's T20I rankings
The latest T20I rankings saw New Zealand and Indian players make massive leaps, thanks to series wins over Pakistan and Afghanistan.
While New Zealand completed a 4-1 win over Pakistan, India whitewashed the Afghans by a 3-0 margin.
Opening batter Finn Allen's series-leading 275 runs, including a breathtaking 137 off 62 deliveries in the third T20I, saw him jump nine places to No.7 on the batter rankings. Allen's teammates Tim Seifert and Daryll Mitchell also enjoyed promotions as they climbed three places to 20th and ten places to 27th, respectively.
The quartet of Mitchell Santner (up two spots to ninth), Tim Southee (up seven spots to joint-11th), Matt Henry (up 31 spots to 44th), and Lockie Ferguson (up 29 spots to 50th) also showed improvement in the T20I bowler rankings.
Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Rinku Singh also found joy in the T20I batting rankings, thanks to their heroics in the final T20I against Afghanistan. Rohit's 69-ball 121 saw him jump 19 spots to 49th, and Rinku's 39-ball 69 saw him rise 39 places to joint-31st.