England’s marathon run-scoring duo, Australia’s swashbuckling left-hander and India’s pace-bowling icon made for a stellar list of nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.
Former England captain Joe Root begins his 10th reign at the top of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings after the third and final match of their ICC World Test Championship series against New Zealand, edging compatriot Harry Brook, who spent just one week as number one.
England notched up their highest total in 86 years thanks to Harry Brook's triple century and Joe Root's double ton, declaring on 823-7 before Pakistan collapsed to a perilous position on the fourth day of the first Test on Thursday.
Joe Root's hunger and consistency can help him become the top run-scorer in Test cricket, fellow Englishman Alastair Cook said after being surpassed by him as the country's most successful batsman in the format on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old overhauled Cook's aggregate of 12,472 runs and became the fifth-highest scorer of all time after he drove seamer Aamer Jamal for a straight boundary to reach 71 just before lunch.
Joe Root broke Alastair Cook's England Test record of 12,472 runs on the third day of the opening Test against Pakistan in Multan on Wednesday.
England finished the second day of the first Test in Multan on a solid 96-1 on Tuesday in reply to Pakistan's mammoth 556 that was boosted by a fiery century from Agha Salman.
The 33-year-old needs just 71 more to overhaul Cook's 12,472, and if his run spree continues he may become the new record-holder in the match starting on Monday in Multan.
Opener Zak Crawley said on Friday that England's young pace attack will face a "test of character" in their upcoming Test series in Pakistan where a pitch baked by searing temperatures and surging smog levels await.
England's Joe Root said he had lost none of his desire to score runs for his country and get better as a player after compiling his 34th Test century on Saturday at Lord's in the second test against Sri Lanka.
Root, who made 143 in the first innings to move level with the previous England record of 33 hundreds held by the retired Alastair Cook, went to a century on Saturday's third day when he cut Lahiru Kumara for the 10th four off 111 balls faced.
Joe Root's gritty unbeaten 62 guided England to a five-wicket win in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Root only recently scored his 12,000th Test run to become the seventh highest run-scorer of all time and the 33-year-old has second-placed Ponting and Tendulkar's overall record within sight.
England star Joe Root has been rewarded for his excellent series against the West Indies by overtaking New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson and re-claiming his crown as the No.1 ranked batter on the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings.
Root improves 12 rating points to close within seven rating points of the New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson and could re-claim top billing with another strong showing with the bat during the third and final Test against the West Indies in Birmingham.
Former England captain Joe Root is back in the top three of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings and India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has advanced towards the top 10 after some fine performances in the fourth match of their ICC World Test Championship series in Ranchi which India won by five wickets to go 3-1 up in the five-match series.
"It was nice to finally get some runs in this series," said Root, who has 11,692 runs over 139 Tests.
Joe Root remained unbeaten on 122 but ran out of partners as India bowled out England for 353 on day two of the fourth Test on Saturday.
Fast bowler Akash Deep dedicated his stunning Test debut on Friday to his late father after jolting England with three wickets in the first hour of play.
