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Team India will begin their five-match Test series against England in the new World Test Championships (WTC) 2025-27 cycle with the first game at Headingley in Leeds from Friday. Indians will begin a new era in Test cricket with their stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announcing their Test retirement last month. With Rohit and Kohli’s exit the Test batting line-up looks rather bare under new captain Shubman Gill. In the latest Test batting rankings announced by the ICC on Wednesday opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is the highest ranked Indian batter at the number four position with 847 ranking points. The next best Indian batter is wicketkeeper and vice-captain on the England tour Rishabh Pant. The Lucknow Super Giants captain is in 8th position with 739 points going up one place in the latest rankings.   South Africa’s #WTC25 stars make significant gains in the latest ICC Men’s Player Rankings 🤩https://t.co/Plbam1ScU2 — ICC (@ICC) June 18 2025 However what should concern the Indian bowlers is the fact that the top two batters in the ICC rankings are two Englishmen – Joe Root and Harry Brook. Former captain Root is at top spot with 888 points while new England ODI skipper Brook is second with 873 points. Former New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is in third position currently with 867 points. In the Test bowling department Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah is leading the way with 908 points at the number one position as he gets ready to return to the Test arena. Bumrah’s teammate and all-rounder Ravidra Jadeja is in joint 10th position currently with 745 points – same as Australian pacer Mitchell Starc. England don’t have any bowler in the top 10 list in Test cricket currently. The new ICC World Test Champions South Africa are basking in their glory as multiple members of their team rise in the ICC Men’s Test Player Rankings. Leading the charge is Player of the Match from the final at Lord’s Aiden Markram. The batting hero has risen seven places to just outside the top-10 in the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings with only two points separating him from New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell (725) in 10th. Markram scored a crucial and match-winning 136 runs off 207 balls in a masterful display of Test batting to help take South Africa across the line in the WTC Final. Meanwhile South Africa fast bowler Lungi Ngidi who produced an inspirational spell with the ball during Australia’s second innings has also advanced seven slots in the Bowling Rankings. He shares 37th place with Pakistan’s Naseem Shah and Sri Lanka’s Lahiru Kumara. Kagiso Rabada who was the pick of South Africa’s bowlers maintained his second place among the bowlers next to India’s Jasprit Bumrah. His 868 ratings points are 21 clear of Pat Cummins who also remains in third place. For runners up Australia seasoned speedster Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Beau Webster benefited from valiant displays.