ICC Rankings: Brook dethrones Head as No. 1 Test batter; Shanto achieves career-best rankings 

Dubai, Aug 19 (IANS) England batter Harry Brook reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings, dethroning Australia opener Travis Head, who dropped down the list following his low scores in the first match of the ICC World Test Championship series against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh produced a superb team performance to defeat Australia by nine wickets in the opening match of their two-match series in Darwin.

It is the fourth stint at the top for Brook, who first achieved the number one position in December 2024. Joe Root (second) and Steve Smith (third) have also overtaken Head, who could only manage scores of 22 and 17 in Darwin. Smith scored 71 and 44 to move up to third position.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who struck an excellent innings of 84 in the first innings to help setup the victory, shot up nine places to reach a career-best 20th position.

Shanto moved above the likes of India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and compatriot Liton Das. His tally of 659 rating points is the sixth highest for a batter from his country.

Teammate Mominul Haque (up five rungs to 31st) and Australia all-rounder Cameron Green (up five slots to 30th) also made ground on this list, while Travis Head relinquished his place as the top-ranked Test batter following scores of 22 and 17 across the match.

Cameron Green’s second-innings century has enabled him to advance five positions to 30th while Mominul Haque (up five places to 31st), Shadman Islam (up three places to 58th), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (up five places to 59th) and Tanzid Hasan (up 84 places to joint-88th) are the others to move up the batting rankings.

There’s just 33 rating points between those first four batters, meaning there could be further movement following England’s home Test series with Pakistan and the second match of Australia’s series against Bangladesh.

Seam bowler Hasan Mahmud has made headway with his Player of the Match effort. He is up 26 places to 38th after returning figures of six for 55 in the first innings, while Mehidy’s haul of five for 66 in the second innings lifts him three places to 24th, ICC reports.

In the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings, the biggest mover this week is Afghanistan left-hander Sediqullah Atal, whose scores of 143 and 98 in the last two matches of their five-match series against Ireland have helped him advance 37 places to 33rd.

Ireland’s Curtis Campher’s scores of 84 and 96 have lifted him 23 places to 36th.

Canada batter Pargat Singh’s knock of 42 against Scotland in an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match in Dundee has helped him move up 10 places to 85th, while Ireland’s Andrew Balbirnie is up five places to 47th.

–IANS

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