Even though South Africa's all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and India's captain Shubman Gill all reached career highs in the most recent weekly update, England middle-order batter Harry Brook has overtaken fellow countryman Joe Root to reclaim the top spot in the ICC Men's Test Batting Rankings. With a strong 158 in the opening innings of the second Test match against India in Birmingham, Brook has amassed 886 rating points, 18 more than his Yorkshire teammate Root. This puts Brook in a position to overtake Root, ending the former captain's six-month dominance. Earlier, in December of last year, Brook held the top spot for a week.

Shubman Gill Achieves Career-Best Ranking

However, the Edgbaston Test belonged to Gill, who recorded the second-highest Test aggregate ever (430 runs) and became just the second player in history to hit more than 150 in both innings of a Test match. He has jumped 15 spots to a career-best sixth position with knocks of 269 and 161. Gill began this series rated 23rd, and his previous best was 14th place, which he attained in September of last year.

Ravindra Jadeja, who is up six spots to 39th after crucial knocks of 89 and 69 not out, and Jamie Smith, who is in the top 10 for the first time after his strong innings of 184 not out and 88 lifted him 16 spots, are two other batters who have made significant gains following the second Test of the five-match ICC World Test Championship (WTC) series, which is now level 1-1.

With five runs apiece, India's new-ball bowlers Akash Deep and Muhammad Siraj have significantly improved their standing in the bowling rankings. After taking his first 10-wicket haul of the game, Akash Deep surged 39 spots to a career-high 45th rank, while Siraj's seven wickets in the match moved him up six spots to 22nd.

Mulder's Heroics Pays Off

Mulder's massive 367 not out in the Bulawayo Test, the greatest score by a South African batsman, earned him a big ranking boost, moving him up 34 spots to a career-best 22nd place. In terms of rankings, his three wickets in the game have also paid off, as he has risen four spots to 48th among bowlers and, more importantly, to a career-best third among all-rounders, now just behind Jadeja and Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh.

Mulder began the series ranked 73rd among hitters, 58th among bowlers, and 22nd among all-rounders. He concluded the two Test matches with 531 runs and seven wickets.