England pair make big strides in latest ICC rankings

Joe Root and James Anderson have climbed into third position on the ICC Test batting and bowling rankings respectively following their match-winning heroics in the series opener between England and India in Chennai.

Root continued a remarkable run-spree in 2021, hitting 218 and 40 in England's thumping 227-run win against India to add to his first-innings scores of 186 and 228 in his previous two Tests against Sri Lanka.

The England captain jumps two places, leapfrogging India captain Virat Kohli (fifth) and Australian Marnus Labuschagne (fourth), with his 883 points putting him just eight points behind second-placed Steve Smith and 36 points behind top-ranked Kane Williamson.

It is Root's highest ranking since September 2017, while Kohli finds himself out of the top three ranked batsmen for the first time since November 2017.

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ICC's Top 10 Test batsmen

1. Kane Williamson (NZ)

2. Steve Smith (Aus)

3. Joe Root (Eng)

4. Marnus Labuschagne (Aus)

5. Virat Kohli (Ind)

6. Babar Azam (Pak)

7. Cheteshwar Pujara (Ind)

8. Henry Nicholls (NZ)

9. Ben Stokes (Eng)

10. David Warner (Aus)

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Anderson's match haul of 5-63 against India, which included a decisive spell on day five, was enough to see the 38-year-old move up three places into third spot, behind only compatriot Stuart Broad (second) and Australian ace Pat Cummins (first). It is the Englishman's highest ranking since the 2019 Ashes.

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ICC's Top 10 Test bowlers

1. Pat Cummins (Aus)

2. Stuart Broad (Eng)

3. James Anderson (Eng)

4. Neil Wagner (NZ)       

5. Josh Hazlewood (Aus)

6. Tim Southee (NZ)

7. Ravichandran Ashwin (Ind)

8. Jasprit Bumrah (Ind)

9. Kagiso Rabada (SA)

10. Jason Holder (WI)

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With three Test series currently ongoing, there will be plenty of opportunities for movement in the coming weeks.

Check out all the upcoming matches on cricket.com.au's series page.