|| Desk Report || 

England mercurial all-rounder Ben Stokes has up-surged West Indies captain Jason holder as the top-ranked Test all-rounder in the latest ICC rankings after his incredible performance in the second Test at Old Trafford, Manchester yesterday.

The 29-year-old is the first English player to top the all-rounder rankings since Andrew Flintoff. Stokes started the ongoing Test series against West Indies in second place, trailing Holder by 54 points.

After a tepid performance in the first Test, Stokes also captained England –the talisman all rounder hit back in Manchester with a match-winning performance, aggregating a total of 254 runs and claiming 3 wickets from 27.4 miserly overs.

The Englishman now leads Holder by 38 points as the team’s head into the series decider, also at Old Trafford, later this week. Stokes’s century and unbeaten fifty in the second Test has also elevated him to the third spot (tied with Marnus Labuschagne) in ICC Rankings for Test Batsmen, a list currently headed by Steve Smith with Virat Kohli in second place

ICC Rankings for Test All-Rounders

Rank          Player                  Team                Rating

1              Ben Stokes          England                497

2              Jason Holder       West Indies           459

3              Ravindra Jadeja       India                 397