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)
