Dubai [UAE], November 4 : Harry Brook emerged as Joe Root's biggest challenger for the mantle of best Test batter in the world after the England star made good ground on the latest ICC Men's Test Player Rankings issued on Wednesday.
Brook scored his seventh Test century when making a superb 171 during the first innings of England's eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in Christchurch and gained two spots to move to second on the updated rankings for Test batters, as per ICC.
With Root suffering a rare failure with his first Test duck in more than two years in the same innings, Brook closes the gap to his more senior teammate to just 41 rating points while obtaining a new career-high rating.
Brook's rise sees India youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal drop to fourth on the Test batter rankings, while England duo Ollie Pope (up eight spots to 32nd) and skipper Ben Stokes (up seven places to 34th) also make some ground following strong showings against the Black Caps.
There is further movement inside the top 10 following the completion of the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka, with Kamindu Mendis and Temba Bavuma both achieving career-high ratings at the conclusion of the Durban contest.
Mendis gains two spots to move to seventh for Test batters, while Bavuma is boosted 14 places to 10th overall following scores of 70 and 113 during South Africa's emphatic 233-run triumph.
There are also improvements made on the rankings for Test batters by Dinesh Chandimal (up two places to 17th) and Tristan Stubbs (up 29 spots to 42nd) following their contributions in Durban, while the list for Test bowlers and Test all-rounders received a major shake-up following the efforts of Player of the Match Marco Jansen during that first Test.
Jansen took 11 wickets for the match - including an outstanding spell of 7/13 in the first innings - with the left-armer achieving career-high ratings in both bowler and all-rounder categories as a result of his heroics.
The tall pacer moves up 19 spots on the bowler rankings to ninth overall and is boosted 10 spots to second on the list for all-rounders, with India duo Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja still holding the lead in each respective category.
Pacer Vishwa Fernando (up four spots to 29th) was the big improver on the bowling ranks from a Sri Lankan perspective, while England duo Brydon Carse (up 21 places to 43rd) and Shoaib Bashir (up four rungs to 48th) gained ground following their efforts against New Zealand.
Pakistan's impressive white-ball results in Zimbabwe have also caught the eye on the latest white-ball rankings, with hard-hitting opener Saim Ayub gaining 12 spots to move 78th on the list for ODI batters and 39 places to 119th for T20I batters after some big scores over the last week.
Teammate Abbas Afridi (up 20 to 61st) makes solid gains on the list for T20I bowlers, while Zimbabwe are boosted by improvements made by veteran Sikandar Raza (up six places to 40th) for ODI bowlers.