Joe Root's gritty unbeaten 62 guided England to a five-wicket win in the first Test against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Root only recently scored his 12,000th Test run to become the seventh highest run-scorer of all time and the 33-year-old has second-placed Ponting and Tendulkar's overall record within sight.

England star Joe Root has been rewarded for his excellent series against the West Indies by overtaking New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson and re-claiming his crown as the No.1 ranked batter on the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings.

Root improves 12 rating points to close within seven rating points of the New Zealand veteran Kane Williamson and could re-claim top billing with another strong showing with the bat during the third and final Test against the West Indies in Birmingham.

Former England captain Joe Root is back in the top three of the ICC Men’s Test Batting Rankings and India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has advanced towards the top 10 after some fine performances in the fourth match of their ICC World Test Championship series in Ranchi which India won by five wickets to go 3-1 up in the five-match series.

"It was nice to finally get some runs in this series," said Root, who has 11,692 runs over 139 Tests.

Joe Root remained unbeaten on 122 but ran out of partners as India bowled out England for 353 on day two of the fourth Test on Saturday.

Fast bowler Akash Deep dedicated his stunning Test debut on Friday to his late father after jolting England with three wickets in the first hour of play.

England, who are fighting to stay alive at 2-1 down in the five-match series, reached stumps at 302-7 after electing to bat first in Ranchi

England are blocking out all "external noise" to help Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow hit form and keep the series alive against India in Friday's fourth Test in Ranchi.

England batsman Joe Root faced a torrent of criticism Saturday after getting dismissed off a reverse scoop to trigger England's collapse on day three of the third Test against India.

Root made his IPL debut last season for Rajasthan

The defending champions have just one win from six matches and a loss to Australia in Ahmedabad on Saturday will confirm that their meek title defence is over.

Root said England should be top of the table with the quality in their squad.

New Zealand bowlers led by Matt Henry kept England in check to 282-9 despite Joe Root's 77 in the opening match of the World Cup on Thursday.

Root was part of the victorious England side that lifted their inaugural World Cup trophy at home four years ago and they get the chance to become just the third team to claim back-to-back titles when they travel to the sub-continent for this year's 50-over showcase.

England batsman Joe Root will face Ireland in Wednesday's one-day international series opener as he eyes extra practice ahead of the World Cup.

England batter Joe Root has deemed Test skipper Ben Stokes as the best player that the country has ever produced as he praised the match-winning ability of Stokes on Tuesday.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow combined for a sublime century partnership as England took a giant stride towards levelling the Ashes in the fifth Test at The Oval on Saturday.

Joe Root dismissed Australian century-maker Marnus Labuschagne but rain returned to Old Trafford to frustrate England's hopes of forcing a series-levelling win in the fourth Test on Saturday.