Joe Root inches closer to career-best, Babar Azam drops out of top 10 on ICC Test rankings

Former Pakistan Test captain Babar Azam has dropped out of the list of the top 10 players on the ICC Men's Test batting rankings after registering a string of low scores in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

0, 22, 31 and 11 were Babar's scores across the four innings of the two Test matches and that has cost him a place in the top 10.

Babar was ninth before the start of the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi and two underwhelming knocks that couldn't help his side in avoiding a series loss pushed him out of the top 10 list.

Babar, 29, is 12th on the list and will have to wait for the three-match series against England at home in October to redeem himself. Following his exit, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistan player left in the top 10.

On the



other hand, Joe Root has extended his lead at the top of the Test batting rankings and is on the verge of going past his all-time best Test rating.

The former England captain scored twin centuries at Lord's in the second Test against Sri Lanka and has now collected a total of 922 rating points and is just one shy of equaling his career-best. Root is the leading run-getter in Test matches this year.

He has aggregated 961 runs in 10 games at an average of 60.06, including four centuries and as many half-centuries. The former New Zealand Test captain Kane Williamson is second behind Root with 859 rating points. His compatriot Daryl Mitchell is placed third on the list.

On the other hand, India have three players in the top 10. Rohit Sharma (6th), Yashasvi Jaiswal (7th) and Virat Kohli (8th) are the three representatives from India in the top 10.