The Indian skipper, Virat Kohli has again surpassed former Australian skipper, Steve Smith to become the No.1 Test batsman in the ICC rankings. Kohli went past Smith thanks to his dominating century against Bangladesh in the Day-night Test against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.
Virat had held the top spot for a long time before Smith had regained the position he numero uno position with a mind-numbing 774 runs from 4 Tests in the Ashes series against England.
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However, while Kohli scored a double century against South Africa and a hundred against Bangladesh, Smith managed scores of 4 and 36 in a 2-Test series against Pakistan which was headlined by David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.
Virat Kohli back to No.1!
David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne and Joe Root make significant gains in the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Rankings for batting.
Full rankings: https://t.co/AIR0KN4yY5 pic.twitter.com/AXBx6UIQkL
— ICC (@ICC) December 4, 2019
Virat has regained the No.1 position from the second spot after Smith dropped points because of his low scores in Brisbane and Adelaide. Kohli, who has 7202 runs and 27 centuries from 84 Tests, will not play any more Tests in 2019. However, Smith has amassed 7013 runs and 26 hundred from 70 Tests, will get the opportunity to reclaim the top spot in 2 Tests against New Zealand. The third match of the series will be played in the New Year.
David Warner also took a leap of 12 spots to 5th on ICC Test rankings after his phenomenal 335 not out in the Adelaide pink-ball Test. His teammate Marnus Labuschagne has also risen to the 8th spot. Notably, he started the year at the 110th spot on the batting charts.
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Meanwhile, the Indian deputy skipper, Ajinkya Rahane dropped a spot to 6th after making way for Warner in the top 5. India now has 3 Indians in the top 10 with Virat leading the list and Cheteshwar Pujara at 4 and Rahane at the 6th spot. Pakistan star Babar Azam rose 2 spots to 13th after some fine outings in Australia. The young batsman hit his 2nd Test hundred in The Gabba Test and followed it up with 97 in the Adelaide Day-night Test.
Top 10 batsman in ICC Test rankings:
- Virat Kohli – 928
- Steve Smith – 923
- Kane Williamson – 877
- Cheteshwar Pujara – 791
- David Warner – 764
- Ajinkya Rahane – 759
- Joe Root – 752
- Marnus Labuschagne 731
- Henry Nicholls – 726
- Dimuth Karunaratne – 723
