Indian skipper Virat Kohli has dethroned former Australian captain Steve Smith from the spot of number one batsman in Test cricket. Virat has now become the seventh Indian batsman to claim number one spot in Test ranking.
The 29-year-old Indian captain is also the first Indian since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011 to top the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen. ICC Test ranking was released on Sunday morning following the conclusion of the Edgbaston Test.
In the series opener against England, Virat scored 149 and 51 and moved 31 points up. The Delhi lad’s magical innings in the first Test helped him end Steve Smith’s 32-month reign as the top-ranked batsman. Virat has achieved number one spot for the first time in his 67-Test career.
Now, Virat Kohli leads Smith by five points. Banned Australian cricketer Steve Smith had held the top spot since December 2015. However, Virat will have to maintain the form in the remaining four Tests to finish the series as the world’s highest-ranked batsman.
Other than Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Dilip Vengsarkar are the only India batsmen to have achieved the number-one Test ranking.
Virat Kohli is India’s highest ranked Test batsman with 934 points in his tally. He is also at 14th spot in the all-time tally of points.
ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 August, following Edgbaston Test)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 (+1) Virat Kohli Ind 934! 54.28 934 v Eng at Edgbaston 2018
2 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
3 ( – ) Joe Root Eng 865 52.18 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( – ) Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( – ) David Warner Aus 820 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( – ) C. Pujara Ind 791 50.34 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 ( – ) D. Karunaratne SL 754! 37.28 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( – ) D. Chandimal SL 733 44.96 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 ( – ) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 ( – ) Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
11 ( – ) Ross Taylor NZ 697 47.22 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
12= ( – ) Kraigg Brathwaite Win 695 37.94 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
(+4) Jonny Bairstow Eng 695 38.64 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
14 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 ( – ) Azhar Ali Pak 672 44.84 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
16 (+1) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
17 (-4) Alastair Cook Eng 658 45.36 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
18 (+2) Kusal Mendis SL 641 36.78 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
19 (-1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 634 39.20 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
20 (+1) Usman Khawaja Aus 633 42.00 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017