• Cricket365
• January 18, 2018

Virat Kohli has become only the second India batsman after Sunil Gavaskar to reach the 900-point mark in the ICC Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released on Thursday morning following the conclusion of the Centurion Test.

Gavaskar, one of the ICC Cricket Hall of Famers, had achieved the milestone in his 50th Test when he scored 13 and 221 at The Oval in 1979 to jump from 887 points to 916 points, which remained his career-best.

Kohli, who recorded his 21st century at Centurion, got to the rare feat in his 65th Test after vaulting from 880 points to 900 points.

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 to 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.

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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 Mohammad 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 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 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

 

*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