Fifty-less for 618 days, Babar Azam slips out of top 10 in ICC Test Batter Rankings after dismal show vs Bangladesh; Joe Root's reign continues

Former Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam who has been fifty-less in the format since December 2022 slipped out of top 10 batters in ICC rankings. After amassing just 64 runs from four innings in the recently concluded two-Test series against Bangladesh, Babar has slipped three places to 12th. 
 

Earlier, Babar had slipped six places to ninth after he registered a duck and 22 runs in the historic defeat in first Test against Bangladesh. Babar has 712 rating points. He is slightly ahead of Sri Lankan opener Dimuth Karunaratne who has 706 points.
 

The only Pakistan batter in top 10 is Mohammad Rizwan who scored an unbeaten 171 in a losing cause in the first Test.
 

There were a couple more changes in the top 10. Harry Brook slipped to fifth position after the second Test against Sri Lanka. Australian opener Usman Khawaja went up one place to ninth. 
 

Big boost for Das

Bangladesh's wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das climbed 12 places after his record-breaking 138 to rescue the visitors from 26/6. 

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Root’s reign continues

England's in-form batter Joe Root who scored two centuries in the Lord's Test is on top with 922 rating points. He extended the lead over New Zealand's Kane Williamson who has remained in the second spot with 859 rating points.

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There were a few other batters who made huge gains. Sri Lanka's Kamindu Mendis whose average has been a talking point climbed 11 places to reach the 25th spot. Pakistan's batting all-rounder Agha Salman who stood tall amidst batting collapse in second Test jumped nine places to 31st.
 

Jamie rises, Shafique slips several places

England's young wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith who replaced an out-of-favour Jonny Bairstow gained five places. Smith is now ranked 37th. Another Pakistan batter who took a major hit was opener Abdullah Shafique. He slipped eight places to 42. He registered scores of 0 and 3 in the second Test. In the Test series, he scored just 42 runs.
 

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