Marnus Labuschagne dethrones Joe Root, becomes No. 1 batter in Test rankings

Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne has replaced England skipper Joe Root as the No 1 batter in the latest Test Rankings. The right-hand batter scored 103 and 51 in the second Ashes Test in Adelaide and helped Australia take a 2-0 lead in the side. Meanwhile, Root had a rare failure  and could score only 62 and 24. The England skipper has managed to have starts in all of his four innings but has failed to convert them into big hundreds.

Root is having a dream run in Tests in 2021 and has scored over 1630 runs in 14 matches. The 30-year-old started the year with a bang by scoring double hundreds against Sri Lanka and India on the team’s away tours. Later, he displayed the same form against the visiting Indians in the five-match Test series. However, Root has slightly dropped his gear in the ongoing Ashes.

He still has three Tests to turn a corner and regain the number one spot. On the other hand, Marnus has had a stellar run in Test cricket since making his debut in 2018. He came as a concussion substitute to Steven Smith in the 2019 Ashes series and has since then has solidified his place in the Australian team. He has played 20 Test matches so far, scoring 2113 runs. His average of 62.15 is second to Don Bradman.

Labuschagne also made a mark in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane. He scored 74 runs and helped Australia post 425 in the first innings. Speaking about the rankings, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, Dimuth Karunaratne, Babar Azam, and Travis Head held their positions .

Head managed to break into the top 10 rankings for batters in Test cricket for the first time after his epic 152 against England in the first Ashes Test.