Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam, has climbed up to the third spot in the ICC Test batter rankings after his sensational performance in the first Test match against Sri Lanka. Babar has overtaken Australian middle-order batter, Steve Smith, who has gone down to the fourth spot.
Babar was exceptional in the first Test match as he scored a century in the first innings and a half-century in the second as Pakistan registered a historic victory. Babar scored 119 runs in the first innings as he saved Pakistan from a precarious position to hand them a chance of a win. He followed it up with 55 runs in the second innings as Pakistan chased down 342 runs in the final innings, the highest-ever at Galle.
Elsewhere, Pakistan’s opening batter, Abdullah Shafique, also made a huge jump after his historic 160* in the final innings of the first Test. Abdullah has jumped up 23 places and is now positioned at the 16th spot, his highest-ever Test ranking.
Sri Lankan batter, Dinesh Chandimal, was the other batter who made huge gains as he jumped up 11 places to the 18th spot after his consecutive half-centuries in the first Test match.
Here are the latest rankings:
| Rank | Player | Team | Rating Points |
| 1 | Joe Root | England | 923 |
| 2 | Marnus Labuschagne | Australia | 885 |
| 3 | Babar Azam | Pakistan | 874 |
| 4 | Steve Smith | Australia | 848 |
| 5 | Rishabh Pant | India | 801 |
| 6 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 786 |
| 7 | Usman Khawaja | Australia | 766 |
| 8 | Dimuth Karunaratne | Sri Lanka | 746 |
| 9 | Rohit Sharma | India | 746 |
| 10 | Jonny Bairstow | England | 742 |
| 16 | Abdullah Shafique | Pakistan | 671 |
