Dubai, Feb 13 (IBNS): England captain Joe Root has moved into the top five in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after his fine century in the third Test against the Windies in St Lucia, which his side won by 232 runs on Tuesday.
The former number one Test batsman has gained three places to reach joint-fifth position after scores of 15 and 122, making a strong comeback on the rankings table after slipping from 827 to 740 points over the previous four Tests. He is now on 763 points, tied with New Zealand’s Henry Nicholls in the list for batsmen. Root’s career-high rankings points were 915 in 2015, the year that also saw him hold the No.1 position for 45 days.
Others to move up in the list for batsmen after the St Lucia Test include his teammates Jos Buttler (up eight places to 26th) after scores of 67 and 56 and all-rounder Ben Stokes (up seven places to 34th) after scores of 79 and 48 not out.
St Lucia Player of the Match Mark Wood has moved up 12 places to 52nd position after his six wickets in the match while Moeen Ali’s seven wickets have helped him move from 28th to joint-26th place in the list for bowlers. Ali is on 621 points, the same as South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn, and only 12 points shy of his own best rating points.
For the Windies, fast bowler Kemar Roach has moved up one slot to 11th position after finishing with five wickets in the match. Roach has completed a fine run, having started the series in 24th position, gaining 13 places over three Tests after his Player of the Series effort of 18 wickets.
Meanwhile, England have slipped to fifth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings after losing the series 2-1, while the Windies have moved up to 77 points but remain in eighth position.
Starting the series in third place, England have slipped behind New Zealand and Australia to 104 points. Australia are ahead of them on decimals after winning both Tests of their recent two-match series against Sri Lanka that helped them gain three points.
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