India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal missed a significant opportunity to ascend to a career-high position by claiming the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings, as England's Joe Root vacated the top position following the rise of emerging star Harry Brook. Concurrently, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli experienced declines in their rankings after disappointing performances in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in Adelaide.

Jaiswal, who achieved a career-best No. 2 ranking after his impressive 161 runs in the Perth Test, began the pink ball Test in the fourth position. He had the potential to surpass Root, the then No. 1 batter, had he replicated his Perth performance in Adelaide. However, his scores of 0 and 24 in the second Test resulted in him maintaining his No. 4 ranking, trailing behind No. 3-ranked Kane Williamson, who also had the chance to overtake Root.

Ultimately, it was Brook who successfully surpassed England's all-time leading run-scorer in Test matches. He had previously ascended to the No. 2 position following his outstanding performance in the first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch earlier this month. Brook secured the No. 1 ranking after scoring his eighth Test century against New Zealand in Wellington last week, now holding a narrow one-point lead over Root.

The 25-year-old England batter currently possesses 898 rating points, equaling the 34th highest rating of all time for Test batters, a milestone shared with Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar.

A nightmarish low for Rohit Sharma; Virat Kohli falls again

The return of the India captain was challenging, as he was unable to participate in the opening match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Perth due to the birth of his second child. In his subsequent appearance in Adelaide, he managed to score only nine runs across both innings. This performance contributed to a dismal streak in Test cricket since September, during which he averaged below 12 over six matches, accumulating just 142 runs, including a single half-century. As a result of his disappointing outing in Adelaide, Rohit fell out of the top 30 in the ICC Test rankings for the first time in six years.

In contrast, Kohli marked his return from a prolonged slump with a match-winning century in the first Test against Australia, his first in the format in 16 months. However, after scoring 7 and 11 in subsequent matches, he too experienced a decline, dropping six places to the 20th position in the rankings, putting him at risk of further setbacks. Following a lacklustre performance at home against New Zealand, the 36-year-old had only recently fallen out of the top 20 in the ICC rankings for the first time in a decade.

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