Kohli closes rankings gap on Smith

India captain Virat Kohli has moved up three places to grab second position among batsmen in the ICC Test Player Rankings, after registering his career-best score in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka, which ended in a draw in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Kohli’s first-innings knock of 243 was followed with 50 as he finished with 610 runs in the series, which India won 1-0.

The India skipper slammed back-to-back double-centuries and recorded three-figure scores in three consecutive matches he had started the series in sixth position but has leapfrogged David Warner, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kane Williamson and Joe Root after the stupendous run which saw him average 152.50.

Though 45 points separate him from Australia captain Steve Smith, Kohli would be eyeing the chance of reaching the zenith in all three formats since he is the current No. 1 in ODIs and T20Is. Smith though has been in a different league and last week reached 941 points, the joint fifth-highest in terms of the highest points tally in batting history in Tests. Smith is now on 938 points while Kohli is on 893 points.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is the only batsman to have been at the top in all three formats at the same time – in December-January 2005-06, while his compatriot Matthew Hayden is the other batsman to have topped all three formats.

Though Smith enjoys a substantial lead over Kohli, the competition for second to fifth positions remains intense. Before this Test, only 11 points separated second-ranked Pujara from fifth-ranked Kohli. Following the latest performances, the gap has increased slightly with 28 points now separating second-ranked Kohli from fifth-ranked Williamson.

In the latest rankings, which also take into account the second Test between Australia and England in Adelaide which the home side won by 120 runs, and the first Test in Wellington in which New Zealand defeated the Windies by an innings and 67 runs, opener Murali Vijay (up three places to 25th) and middle-order batsman Rohit Sharma (up six places to 40th) are the other India batsmen to move up.

For Sri Lanka, captain Dinesh Chandimal has gained eight places to take ninth position after finishing the series with 366 runs, the first time he has moved into the top 10. All-rounder Angelo Mathews has moved up seven places to 23rd position after scoring 111 in the first innings while Dhananjaya de Silva’s match-saving 119 in the second innings has lifted him nine places to 47th position.

For Australia, left-hander Shaun Marsh’s unbeaten 126 in the first Test in Adelaide has lifted him six places to a career-best 27th position while pace bowlers Mitchell Starc (up two places to eighth) and Pat Cummins (up two places to 43rd) are the others to move up.

England captain Joe Root has retained his third spot after scores of nine and 67 in Adelaide and Mark Stoneman has gained 18 slots to take 83rd position. Chris Woakes has moved up five places among bowlers to reach 28th position after finishing with five wickets in the match.

For New Zealand, Tom Blundell has entered the rankings in 70th position. The 27-year-old, who featured in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2010 in New Zealand, became the first wicketkeeper from his country to score a century on Test debut. His team-mate Colin de Grandhomme, who had played in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2004 for Zimbabwe but later moved to New Zealand, has gained 35 places to reach 75th position after also notching a ton.

For the Windies, opener Kraigg Brathwaite has gained two slots to reach 17th position while Kemar Roach (up three places to 20th) and Miguel Cummins (up four places to 77th) are among the main gainers.

In the ICC Test Team Rankings, India has lost one point but remains well ahead of South Africa at the top of the rankings, while Sri Lanka remains on its pre-series tally of 94 points in sixth place.

ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 7 December, after the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka in New Delhi, the second Test between Australia and England in Adelaide, and the first Test between New Zealand and the Windies in Wellington)

Rank     Team                    Points

1              India                    124 (-1)

2              South Africa          111

3              England                105

4              New Zealand         97

5              Australia                97

6              Sri Lanka               94

7              Pakistan                 88

8              Windies                 75

9              Bangladesh            72

10           Zimbabwe               02

(Developed by David Kendix)

ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 7 December, after the third and final Test between India and Sri Lanka in New Delhi, the second Test between Australia and England in Adelaide, and the first Test between New Zealand and the Windies in Wellington):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank      ( /-)        Player                   Team       Pts          Avge      Highest Rating

1           ( – )          Steve Smith          Aus         938        60.40      941 v Eng at Brisbane 2017

2           ( 3)         Virat Kohli             Ind          893        53.75      895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

3           ( – )          Joe Root                Eng         879        53.05      917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

4           (-2)          C. Pujara               Ind          873        52.96      888 v SL at Nagpur 2017

5           (-1)          Kane Williamson NZ           865        50.66      893 v Aus at Perth 2015

6           ( – )          David Warner       Aus         815        48.18      880 v NZ at Perth 2015

7           ( – )          Hashim Amla       SA           795        49.87      907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

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

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

10         ( – )          Dean Elgar           SA           732        42.30      740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017

Other selected rankings

Rank      ( /-)        Player                        Team  Pts         Avge      Highest Rating

17         ( 2)         K. Brathwaite           Win      678        37.28      701 v Eng at Headingley 2017

23         ( 7)         Angelo Mathews     SL        640        44.27      877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

25=       ( 3)         Murali Vijay              Ind       636        41.57      747 v SA at Bengaluru 2015

27         ( 16)      Shaun Marsh           Aus      626!       38.88      626 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

40       ( 6)         Rohit Sharma          Ind       565*      42.45      578 v NZ at Wellington 2014

47=     ( 1)         Henry Nicholls        NZ        533*      33.70      536 v SA at Wellington 2017

( 9)         D. de Silva               SL        533*      42.30      612 v Zim at Harare 2016

70       (NEW)    Tom Blundell           NZ        417*!        –          417 v Win at Wellington 2017

75       ( 35)      C.de Grandhomme NZ      396*!     34.55     396 v Win at Wellington 2017

83       ( 18)      Mark Stoneman      Eng      365*!     31.75     365 v Aus at Adelaide 2017

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank      ( /-)       Player                      Team     Pts          Avge      Highest Rating

1           ( – )          James Anderson Eng         894        27.34     896 v Win at Lord’s 2017

2           ( 1)         Kagiso Rabada    SA           876!       22.71     876 v Ban at Bloemfontein 2017

3           (-1)          Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          870         23.73     899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017

4           ( – )          R. Ashwin            Ind          829         25.44     904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016

5           ( – )          Rangana Herath  SL           799         28.04     867 v Zim at Harare 2016

6           ( – )          Josh Hazlewood  Aus         786         25.97     863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017

7           ( 2)         Neil Wagner         NZ           785!       28.05     785 v Win at Wellington 2017

8           ( 2)         Mitchell Starc        Aus         775         27.54     805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016

9           (-2)          Nathan Lyon         Aus         774!       31.47     774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

10         (-2)          Dale Steyn            SA           748         22.30     909 v Win at Centurion 2014

Other selected rankings

Rank    ( /-)        Player                     Team     Pts          Avge      Highest Rating

20        ( 3)         Kemar Roach       Win         613        29.44      774 v SA at Centurion 2014

28        ( 5)         Chris Woakes       Eng         543*      31.48      609 v Pak at The Oval 2016

43        ( 2)         Pat Cummins       Aus         394*!     25.96      394 v Eng at Adelaide 2017

52=      ( 3)         Mitchell Santner   NZ           325*      38.96      335 v Ind at Kolkata 2016

56        ( 11)      L. Sandakan         SL           294*      37.20      319 v Aus at Galle 2016

76        ( 18)      Lahiru Gamage   SL           193*!     46.30      193 v Ind at Delhi 2017

77        ( 4)         Miguel Cummins Win         182*      45.15      307 v Ind at Trinidad 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    ( /-)          Player                     Team     Pts          Highest Rating

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

2        ( – )             Ravindra Jadeja  Ind          415        438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

3        ( 1)           Ben Stokes           Eng         380/*     396 v Win at Lord’s 2017

4        (-1)            R. Ashwin              Ind          369        493 v Eng at Mohali 2016

5        ( – )             Moeen Ali              Eng         352        409 v SA at Old Trafford 2017

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

! indicates career-highest rating

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