Steven Smith, the Australia batsman, regained his number one spot in ICC's Test batsmen rankings after a strong performance in the recently concluded fifth Ashes Test. Joe Root had overtaken Smith on the rankings after the fourth Test, but a 143 in the first innings of the fifth Test helped Smith reclaim the top spot with 910 ranking points. Root managed scores of 6 and 11 in that Test and subsequently moved to third, one point behind second-placed AB de Villiers.

Kumar Sangakkara finished his Test career in the seventh spot after a match tally of 50 runs in his final Test against India in Colombo. Sangakkara held the top spot for 812 days in his Test career before being displaced last by de Villiers in December 2014.

Michael Clarke, who also retired from Test cricket after the final Ashes Test, concluded at No. 25. He too was the top-ranked Test batsman, for a period spanning 70 days. Chris Rogers, who also called time on his international career after the last Ashes Test, scored 480 runs in the series, behind only Smith's 508. As a result, he leapfrogged into the top ten - moving from the 23rd spot to the tenth.

In the team rankings, if India win 2-1 against Sri Lanka, they will overtake New Zealand and move into fifth place. However, a Sri Lanka series victory would see them overtake India into sixth place. In the event of a drawn series, India will remain in sixth place, four points clear of Sri Lanka.