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Joe Root and James Anderson move up to third in ICC’s batting and bowling world rankings

Pair both enjoyed tremendous success in England's victory over India

Sports Staff
Wednesday 10 February 2021 12:23 GMT
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Captain Joe Root and seamer James Anderson have moved up to third in the International Cricket Council's batting and bowling rankings following England's victory over India in Chennai.

Root followed his prolific tour of Sri Lanka with 218 in the first innings of his side's 227-run win, adding another 40 in his second attempt.

That moves Root back into the top three batsmen for the first time since September 2017 on the back of 684 runs in six knocks, sitting behind Kane Williamson and Steve Smith but ahead of India skipper Virat Kohli after almost four years trailing.

Anderson is also back up to number three after taking five wickets against India, including three in a wonderful spell of reverse swing on day five.

“He’s the Goat [greatest of all time] of English cricket,” Root said afterwards. “He’s finding ways of challenging himself and he’s getting better all the time. I can’t think of a better over [than the one Anderson bowled in which he dismissed Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane] in my time for England.

“It reminded me of [Andrew] Flintoff in the 2005 Ashes, the impact of that over to [Ricky] Ponting and [Justin] Langer. In the context of this game, Anderson’s over was huge.”

PA

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