Yorkshire's Joe Root knocked off top of test batting rankings

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne now holds the top spot

Joe Root in action for Yorkshire
Author: PA Sport StaffPublished 22nd Dec 2021

England captain and Yorkshire player Joe Root has been displaced at the top of the International Cricket Council Test batting rankings by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne.

Root, who returned to the number one position in August, has amassed 1,630 runs at an average of 62.69 in 2021 and a further 159 in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne would set a new benchmark by a batter in a calendar year.

The Yorkshireman amassed 62 and 24 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide but he has been leapfrogged in the ICC standings by Labuschagne, whose maiden Ashes century helped Australia move into a 2-0 lead with three matches left.

Root has been knocked off the top spot by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne

Labuschagne, the ninth Australian batter to cross the 900-point mark in the ICC's table, sits ahead of Root, with Australia's Steve Smith third, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson fourth and India's Rohit Sharma fifth.

Meanwhile, England's Dawid Malan now shares top spot in the Twenty20 batting rankings alongside Pakistan's Babar Azam.

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