Steve Smith retained his top spot, while Joe Root and Kane Williamson exchanged places within the top five in the latest ICC Test Rankings.

The new face in the top 10 of the MRF Tyres ICC Test Rankings for batsmen was that of Aiden Markram, who slotted in at No.9 after emerging as the top run-getter during the course of South Africa’s 3-1 win over Australia.

Steve Smith, despite being out of action – for the last Test against South Africa and for the foreseeable future – retained his No.1 spot but the gap between him and Virat Kohli, at No.2, has come down to 17 points after an average run before he was handed a 12-month suspension by Cricket Australia. He tallied just 142 runs from six innings in South Africa, bringing his rating points down to 929, against Kohli’s 912.

Kane Williamson and Joe Root, the leaders of the opposing teams in the other recently-concluded two-Test series, which New Zealand won 1-0, have swapped places in the table.

Kane Williamson moved down one spot



Root gained a point and jumped to the third place after scoring 142 runs in four innings, with two half-centuries, and now has 867 points, while Williamson fell from third to fourth position after scoring 124 runs in three outings. His 102 in the first innings in the Auckland Test, however, meant he has 847 points to his name.

David Warner, also suspended by Cricket Australia for 12 months for his role in the ball-tampering incident in the Cape Town Test, rounds off the top five with 828 points.

The series win for South Africa was the first for the team against Australia at home since their readmission to Test cricket and also the first home Test series victory over the opponents since 1970. Markram, who topped the scorers’ chart with 480 runs from eight innings, made significant gains in the rankings after getting to 759 points.

Faf du Plessis gained five places and occupies the 17th spot in the rankings



That helped Markram gain six positions, placing him one spot below teammate Dean Elgar, who has 784 points, and three places below AB de Villiers, who occupies the sixth place with 813 points.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara is placed seventh with 810 points, while Pakistan's Azhar Ali, who last played a Test in October 2017, has slipped to the 10th place with 755 points.

There were other gainers from the last round of Test matches as well. England wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow moved up three places to No. 13 with 702 points, while South Africa captain Faf du Plessis gained five places and sits in the 17th spot.

New Zealand wicket-keeper batsman BJ Watling moved up six places after his comeback series to No.35, while South Africa middle-order batsman Temba Bavuma, also returning after an injury layoff, made a big jump –12 spots to No.39 after scoring 95* and 35* in Johannesburg.