Australian batters Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head -- the top performers for Australia in the recently concluded IND vs AUS World Test Championship Final -- equalled a special 39-year-old. Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head are currently at number one, two and three, respectively, in the latest ICC Test rankings for batters, released on Wednesday. It happened 39 years ago when the players of the same team were in the top-3 in the ICC Test batting rankings.
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All three Australian batters have equalled this special record by repeating history. Marnus Labuschagne has retained the number one spot in ICC Test rankings for some time now, while Steve Smith and Travis Head made massive gains in rankings after their recent success in the final of the World Test Championship vs India. Both Head and Smith scored centuries against India, which benefited them highly in improving their ICC rankings.
West Indies batting trio secured top three positions in ICC Test Rankings for batters in 1984
Many years ago in December 1984, West Indies' Gordon Greenidge (810), Clive Lloyd (787) and Larry Gomes (773) achieved top-3 rankings, respectively, in ICC Test batting rankings while playing for West Indies. And now after 39 years, Australia's Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head have equaled this record.
Steve Smith and Travis Head were the third and fourth high run-scorers for Australia in WTC 2021-23. Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne remained at number one and second position. Khawaja scored 1621 runs in 17 Tests at an average of 64.84 with 6 centuries and 7 half-centuries. Labuschagne scored 1576 runs in 20 matches at an average of 52.53 with 5 centuries and 5 half-centuries.