Root, Herath climb to second positions in ICC Test rankings by International Cricket Council

Scorecard:	India v England
Player:	JE Root, HMRKB Herath
Event:	England in India 2016/17

DateLine: 14th November 2016

England batsman Joe Root and Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath have moved up to take the second positions among batsmen and bowlers, respectively, in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after their fine performances in recent matches.

Roots knocks of 124 and four in the drawn opening match of a five-Test series against India in Rajkot have seen him overtake New Zealand captain Kane Williamson in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Root, who was top-ranked in August 2015 during a home series against Australia and again two months later during a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, is three points ahead of Williamson at 844 points and 42 points adrift of Australia captain Steve Smith.

England captain Alastair Cook, who had scores of 21 and 130 in Rajkot, has moved up one slot to 10th rank and his team-mates Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes have made significant gains after slamming first-innings centuries in Rajkot. Ali has moved up six slots to reach 26th rank while Stokes has gained eight places to reach 32nd position.

Teenage debutant opener Haseeb Hameed has made an impressive entry in the rankings list at 64th position after scoring 31 and 82.

Among the India batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara has gained two places to reach 11th rank, captain Virat Kohli has moved up one place to 14th position and opener Murali Vijay has moved up two places to 23rd rank.

Sri Lanka batsman Dhananjaya de Silva (30th) and the Zimbabwe pair of Craig Ervine (56th) and Sean Williams (71st) have attained career-best rankings after their performances in the second and final Test between the two teams in Harare.

In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, stand-in captain Heraths match haul of 13-152 in Harare that helped Sri Lanka complete a 2-0 series win, have lifted him ahead of pace bowlers Dale Steyn of South Africa and James Anderson of England.

Herath has reached number-two rank in the past - in November 2012 and August 2014 but now enjoys a career-best rating of 867 points and is only 14 points behind India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

Another spinner to move up the rankings is England leg-spinner Adil Rashid who has gained 17 places to reach 61st position after taking seven wickets in Rajkot.

Englands Ben Stokes has reached a career-best third-ranking among all-rounders but is 56 points behind second-paced Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh and 106 behind Ashwin.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 14 November after the Harare and Rajkot Tests)

Batsmen (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 886 57.40 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015
2 (+1) Joe Root Eng 844 53.55 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
3 (-1) K. Williamson NZ 841 50.31 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 832 53.98 880 v SL at Lahore 2009
5 (+1) Hashim Amla SA 803 50.47 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
6 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 794 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
7 (+1) David Warner Aus 793 48.98 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
8 (+1) Adam Voges Aus 778* 67.40 824 v SL at Galle 2016
9 (-4) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 777 49.40 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
10 (+1) Alastair Cook Eng 765 47.12 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

Bowlers (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 881 24.99 900 v NZ at Indore 2016
2 (+2) Rangana Herath SL 867! 27.98 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
3 (-1) Dale Steyn SA 861 22.30 909 v WI at Centurion 2014
4 (-1) James Anderson Eng 844 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016
5 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 820 27.37 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
6 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 805 28.64 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
7 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 796* 24.23 809 v NZ at Kolkata 2016
8 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 777 27.76 792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016
9 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 732* 26.95 792 v WI at Hobart 2015
10 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 731* 29.63 760 v SA at Centurion 2016

All-rounders (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating
1 ( - ) R.Ashwin Ind 455! 455 v Eng at Rajkot 2016
2 ( - ) S. Al Hasan Ban 405 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014
3 (+1) Ben Stokes Eng 349 /*! 349 v Ind at Rajkot 2016
4 (-1) Moeen Ali Eng 347 /*! 347 v Ind at Rajkot 2016
5 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 296*/*! 296 v Eng at Rajkot 2016

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets. !indicates career-highest rating