Rishabh Pant’s twin hundreds at Headingley have lifted him to No. 6 in the ICC men’s Test batting rankings, a rise of one place that leaves him a single rung below his career-best. Pant’s 134 and 118 were “bittersweet – nice numbers, wrong result”, he admitted in the post-match media chat, England having chased 371 with seven wickets in hand.
Pant now sits on 801 rating points, the highest tally of his career but still well behind the 889 held by Joe Root. Root, typically understated, said he was “just pleased to be contributing” after scores of 28 and 53 not out sealed the win. Ben Duckett’s rapid 149 in that chase has nudged him up to a personal-best 787 points and kept him eighth on the list.
Further down, Australia’s Travis Head has moved from 13th to 10th thanks to resolute knocks of 59 and 61 in Barbados. “We were in a hole at 22 for three,” Head noted, “so the job was simply to hang around and cash in later.” The left-hander’s shift means Australia now have three batters inside the top ten.
On the bowling front Jasprit Bumrah remains No. 1 after another five-for at Headingley. Josh Hazlewood’s five for 43 in the second innings at Kensington Oval sees him climb to fourth, while West Indies quick Jayden Seales, who took five for 60 in the same match, breaks into the top ten for the first time at No. 9. “It’s early days, I know that,” Seales said, “but a little recognition never hurts.”
Ravindra Jadeja, quietly consistent, continues to lead the Test all-rounder standings. South Africa’s Wiaan Mulder and Corbin Bosch, fresh from a match-winning effort against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, join the all-rounder top twenty for the first time – reward for contributions with both bat and ball in a low-scoring contest.
Rankings move every Wednesday so none of the players are getting carried away. Yet the pattern is clear enough: Pant’s attacking consistency keeps him in Root’s rear-view mirror; Head’s measured aggression is turning him from useful to indispensable; and Hazlewood, fit again, looks as accurate as ever. For the emerging names – Seales, Mulder, Bosch – the challenge is the same one old hands still face: back it up next match.
In short, steady rather than spectacular shifts this week, but they hint at an intriguing second half of the Test calendar.
