Since the last update to the rankings, three New Year’s Tests have taken place – Australia v India in Sydney, South Africa v Pakistan in Cape Town and Zimbabwe v Afghanistan in Bulawayo.
The most high-profile match of the three was the one at the SCG, which Australia won to beat India 3-1 in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to lift it for the first time since 2014-15.
Read more: ‘Overboard’ Virat Kohli has ‘tarnished reputation’ during Australia Tests, say former RCB teammate and coach
India star Virat Kohli made 17 & 6 in Sydney, bringing the curtain down on another disappointing series. These performances have caused him to continue his descent down the rankings – Kohli is now ranked 27th in the world, his lowest since December 2012 (36th) when he was barely a year old in Test cricket. That was also the last time Kohli was placed outside the top 25 Test batters in the world.
One player who saw a sharp rise in the rankings was Australian pacer Scott Boland, who tormented Kohli Down Under, dismissing him four times in the series including twice in Sydney. Boland jumped a massive 222 rating points, and 29 places to move into joint-9th among bowlers – a career-high. Boland’s previous peak came when he was ranked 36th in the world in June 2023.
South African skipper Temba Bavuma excelled with the bat against Pakistan, scoring 106 in the first innings in Cape Town as his side secured a 10-wicket victory, his eighth in nine matches as captain to set a 74-year record. Bavuma moved up to 6th in the batting rankings, a spot he has previously occupied in December 2024, and achieved a career-high rating of 769 points.
Meanwhile, Bavuma’s teammate Marco Jansen moved up to 2nd in the all-rounder rankings with a personal best of 294 rating points, following his contributions of 62*, 1-36 and 2-101 against Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam (12th) and India’s Rishabh Pant (9th) also made gains of five and three spots respectively in the batting rankings.
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating |
| 1 | Joe Root | England | 895 |
| 2 | Harry Brook | England | 876 |
| 3 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 867 |
| 4 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | 847 |
| 5 | Travis Head | Australia | 772 |
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