July 4 (CRICKETNMORE) - Joe Root in his debut series as England captain against South Africa, will start as the highest-ranked batsman from either side in third place in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsman.
Root is 32 points behind second ranked Kane Williamson, but a strong performance in the Lord’s Test can potentially move him ahead of his New Zealand opposite number. In contrast, his South Africa counterpart, Dean Elgar, who will captain in place of Faf du Plessis, will begin in 19th position and can move up the order depending how he performs at Lord’s.
Apart from the two captains, both the sides boast two batsmen each inside the top 20. For England, Jonny Bairstow is ranked 11th and Alistair Cook is 13th, while Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla of South Africa are ranked sixth and ninth respectively. Outside the top 20 and aiming to improve their rankings are Moeen Ali (24th), Ben Stokes (36th), JP Duminy (38th) and Temba Bavuma (45th).
Top 20: ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series)
Top 20: ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 July, before the start of England v South Africa Test series)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Steve Smith Aus 941
2 Kane Williamson NZ 880
3 Joe Root Eng 848
4 C. Pujara Ind 846
5 Virat Kohli Ind 818
6 Quinton de Kock SA 802
7 Azhar Ali Pak 769
8 David Warner Aus 759
9 Hashim Amla SA 748
10 Lokesh Rahul Ind 739
11 Jonny Bairstow Eng 731
12 Ajinkya Rahane Ind 726
13 Alastair Cook Eng 720
14 Usman Khawaja Aus 718
15 Ross Taylor NZ 705
16 Faf du Plessis SA 690
17 Angelo Mathews SL 688
18 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 676
19 Dean Elgar SA 669
20 Tamim Iqbal Ban 654
ICC Media Release