Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has slipped to seventh place in the latest batting rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) ahead of India’s tour of South Africa on Wednesday. Kohli, who relinquished T20I captaincy after the 2021 World Cup was replaced by opener Rohit Sharma as India’s full-time white-ball captain. Rohit was appointed as India’s white-ball captain when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India’s squad for the South Africa Test series.

Indian opener Rohit was also named Kohli’s deputy in the longest format and oldest format of the game. While Kohli has been dropped to the seventh spot in the ICC batting rankings, veteran opener Rohit retained the fifth spot in the newly released Test batters’ standings. Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne dethroned England skipper Joe Root to become the new No.1 batter in the ICC Test rankings. 

Labuschagne has climbed to the top spot after his spectacular show in the action-packed Ashes series between England and hosts Australia. The Australian batter had taken the second spot after smashing a gritty 74 in the series opener at Brisbane. Labuschagne then played match-winning knocks of 103 and 51 in Australia’s comfortable win over England at Adelaide.

Labuschagne-starrer Australia thrashed England by 275 runs in the pink-ball Test to take a 2-0 lead in the 2021-2022 edition of the Ashes. Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has reclaimed the top spot in the ICC T20I rankings. The Pakistan skipper had earlier lost the top spot after registering scores of 0 and 7 in the first two T20I games against the West Indies.

However, Azam returned back to scoring ways in the 3rd T20I by smashing a quick-fire 79 to help Pakistan record 3-0 series win over the West Indies. Pakistani opener Mohammad Rizwan has secured the No.3 spot in the T20I batters’ rankings.