The International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricketer of the year, One Day International Cricketer of the Year and the captain of, both, ICC Test and ODI teams, Virat Kohli has reached the 900-point mark in the latest ICC Players’ Ranking for the longest format of the game.

The ICC Test player ranking was released on Thursday morning after the Centurion Test was concluded. Indian skipper Virat Kohli had become the second player from India to achieve this feat.

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Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar had also achieved this feat in his 50th Test when he scored 13 and 221 at The Oval in 1979. Gavaskar had jumped from 887 points to 916 points.

Virat Kohli reached 900 points from 880 points in his 65th Test match when he registered the 21st century of his career at Centurion.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the other two India batsmen who came close to the 900-point mark, but were unable to break 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 900 points. 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 leapfrogged Joe Root of England into second position as the top four positions continue to be occupied by Test captains who have all played in past ICC U19 Cricket World Cups. Kohli trails Smith by 47 points but now leads 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 to head in the opposite direction include Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul and Quinton de Kock.

Amla, who scored 82 in the first innings, has moved up two places to eighth, while du Plessis has been rewarded for his contributions of 63 and 48 with a rise of two places 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 plummeting five places.

Outside the top 20, South Africa opener Aiden Markram has made an impressive gain after lifting 10 places to share 38th position with Roston Chase of the Windies. In the last three Tests, Markram, who captained South Africa to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup title in the UAE in 2014, has earned 20 places.

In the bowlers’ table, Kagiso Rabada’s reign as the number-one ranked Test bowler has lasted just one Test as he has slipped behind James Anderson following an ordinary performance by his high standards. 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.

However, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami has achieved a career-high ranking of 17th after taking five wickets in the match.

South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi has made an impressive entry in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after debuting in 61st position. Ngidi took one for 51 and six for 39 to help South Africa to a 135 runs victory, which has given them an impregnable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

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.

ICC Player Rankings (as on 18 January, following the Centurion Test)

BATSMEN (top 20)

Rank   (+/-)     Player             Team  Points Avge   Highest Rating

   1         ( – )         Steve Smith         Aus        947!      63.75    947 v Eng at Sydney 2018

   2         (+1)        Virat Kohli            Ind         900!      53.51    900 v SA at Centurion 2018

   3         (-1)         Joe Root              Eng        881        53.28    917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   4         ( – )         Kane Williamson  NZ          855        50.62    893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   5         (+1)        David Warner       Aus        827        48.77    880 v NZ at Perth 2015

   6         (-1)         C Pujara               Ind         814        51.09    888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

   7         ( – )         Azhar Ali              Pak        755        46.62    787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

   8         (+2)        Hashim Amla       SA          745        49.00    907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   9         (-1)         D. Chandimal       SL          743!      43.94    743 v Ind at Delhi 2017

  10        (-1)         Alastair Cook       Eng        742        46.35    874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

  11        ( – )         Ross Taylor          NZ          739        48.04    871 v Win at Hamilton 2013

  12        (+2)        Faf du Plessis      SA          734!      46.33    734 v Ind at Centurion 2018

  13        ( – )         AB de Villiers       SA          732        50.46    935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

  14        (+2)        Dean Elgar           SA          711        41.35    740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

  15        (+2)        Jonny Bairstow    Eng        692        39.12    772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

  16        (+2)        Kraigg Brathwaite Win        690        37.43    701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

  17        (+2)        Usman Khawaja   Aus        685        45.80    747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

  18        (-6)         Lokesh Rahul       Ind         683*      42.41    761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

  19        (+1)        Shaun Marsh       Aus        660!      40.87    660 v Eng at Sydney 2018

  20        (-5)         Quinton de Kock  SA          659        41.02    802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

BOWLERS (top 20)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Avge      Highest Rating

   1         (+1)        James Anderson  Eng        887        27.40    896 v Win at Lord’s 2017

   2         (-1)         Kagiso Rabada    SA          872        22.25    888 v Ind at Cape Town 2018

   3         ( – )         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         853        23.73    899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

   4         (+1)        Josh Hazlewood  Aus        814        25.77    863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

   5         (-1)         R. Ashwin             Ind         811        25.56    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

   6         (+1)        Rangana Herath  SL          799        28.04    867 v Zim at Harare 2016

   7         (-1)         Vernon Philander SA          787        21.95    912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

   8         ( – )         Neil Wagner         NZ          784        27.87    785 v Win at Wellington 2017

   9=       ( – )         Nathan Lyon        Aus        769        31.64    774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

              ( – )         Mitchell Starc       Aus        769        27.73    805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

  11        ( – )         Morne Morkel       SA          764        28.24    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

  12        ( – )         Dale Steyn           SA          730        22.32    909 v Win at Centurion 2014

  13        ( – )         Trent Boult           NZ          725        28.56    825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015

  14        ( – )         Yasir Shah           Pak        704        29.44    878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016

  15        ( – )         Stuart Broad         Eng        683        29.33    880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

  16        ( – )         Tim Southee        NZ          682        31.45    799 v Win at Jamaica 2014

  17        (+2)        M. Shami              Ind         672!      29.86    672 v SA at Centurion 2018

  18        ( – )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        668        32.35    705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

  19        (-2)         Keshav Maharaj   SA          640*      26.78    695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017

  20        ( – )         Kemar Roach       Win        612        29.42    774 v SA at Centurion 2014

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank      (+/-)        Player                  Team     Points   Highest Rating

   1         ( – )         Shakib Al Hasan  Ban        438       489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

   2         ( – )         Ravindra Jadeja   Ind         399       438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   3         ( – )         R. Ashwin             Ind         375       493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

   4         ( – )         Ben Stokes          Eng        358 /*    396 v Win at Lord’s 2017

   5         ( – )         Vernon Philander SA          316       376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014