Steve Smith reclaims No 1 Test ranking from Virat Kohli
Meanwhile, India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane who hit an unbeaten half-century in Sabina Park has returned to the top 10, moving up four places to No 7.
SNS | New Delhi | September 3, 2019 4:09 pm
Australia's Steve Smith plays a shot for four runs during play on the fourth day of the second Ashes cricket Test match between England and Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on August 17, 2019. - Smith returned to bat after going off injured, from a ball, bowled by England's Joffra Archer, which hit his helmet. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Steve Smith has reclaimed the No 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen from Virat Kohli, who dropped down the list after his first-ball duck in Jamaica against the West Indies.
Smith was on the top spot since December 2015. It was only in August 2018, when the Australian was serving a ban for his role in the Newlands ball-tampering incident, that Kohli overtook him on the charts, after reaching career-high rating points in the series against England.
Advertisement
However, the No 4 batsman Smith has fought his way back up the charts in his first series back from the ban, making twin centuries in the first Test against England and 92 in the second. He now averages 63.24 in Test cricket.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane who hit an unbeaten half-century in Sabina Park has returned to the top 10, moving up four places to No 7. Hanuma Vihari, who hit his maiden double century in the same match, has risen 40 places to No 30 in the batting charts.
Jasprit Bumrah and Jason Holder, both of whom picked up fifers in the first innings of their respective teams in the Jamaica Test, have also gained places in the bowler’s rankings, moving up to No 3 and No 4, respectively. The two now stand behind only Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood on the list.
The uncertainty over pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah’s availability for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, starting February 19, could be over by Tuesday as the BCCI is running against time to submit the final squad to the International Cricket Council by February 11.
India had taken a 1-0 lead after their four-wicket win at Nagpur, but Kohli getting rested due to soreness in his knee had raised concerns about his fitness ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, starting February 19.
As the focus shifts to white-ball cricket, the two superstars of the format — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — will hope to get back to beast mode in the three-match ODI series against England as India begin their final preparations for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, starting February 19.