Indian skipper, Virat Kohli, who became the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 on Thursday, he also becomes the second India batsman after Sunil Gavaskar to reach the 900-point mark in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings.
Gavaskar had achieved the milestone after his 50th Test when he scored 13 and 221 at The Oval in 1979 to jump from 887 points to 916 points, which remained his career-best. Kohli, who recorded his 21st Test hundred in Centurion, achieved the rare feat in his 65th Test after surpassing from 880 points to 900 points.
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Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the other two India batsmen who came close to the 900-point mark but were unable to cross the barrier. Tendulkar peaked at 898 points in 2002, while Dravid achieved 892 points in 2005.
Kohli is only the 31st batsman in the history of Test cricket to reach the landmark. Sir Don Bradman sits on top of the table with 961 points, followed by Steve Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Ricky Ponting and Jack Hobbs (both 942 points).
In doing so, Kohli has also surpassed Joe Root of England into the second position as the top four positions continue to be occupied by Test skippers. Sth is leading Virat by 47 points but the latter is leading Root by 19 points, who, in turn, leads Kane Williamson by 26 points.
Other batsmen inside the top 20 to head in the right direction are South Africa’s trio of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, and Dean Elgar, while batsmen like Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul, and Quinton de Kock saw a serious drop in their rankings.
Amla has taken a leap of two places to eighth, while du Plessis has been rewarded for his contributions of 63 and 48 with a rise of two positions that has given him a career-high ranking of 12th. Elgar has also gained two places and is now ranked 14th following scores of 31 and 61.
In contrast, Pujara has slipped one place to sixth, Rahul has fallen six places to 18th and de Kock is 20th after falling five places.
In the bowlers’ rankings, Kagiso Rabada has slipped behind James Anderson following an ordinary performance by his high standards in Centurion. Rabada had figures of one for 74 and three for 47, which were not enough to keep him ahead of Anderson as he has dropped 16 points to now trail Anderson by 15 points.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Vernon Philander were the other bowlers inside the top 10 to slip, going down one position each. Ashwin is now fifth, while Philander is seventh.
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However, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has achieved a career-high ranking of 17th after taking five wickets in the match.
There is no change in the top five all-rounders and Shakib Al Hasan continues to lead the field by a distance. Ravindra Jadeja is second, followed by Ashwin, Ben Stokes, and Philander.
