Kohli chases legends in rankings

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ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 Virat Kohli has moved ahead of ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Brian Lara in the all-time list of batsmen with highest-ever ranking points in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were updated today following the conclusion of the Johannesburg Test.
Second-ranked Kohli had started the third and final Test on 900 points and earned 12 points following contributions of 54 and 41 in his side’s 63 runs victory.
This means he is now on 912 points and in 26th position on the 31-batsman list, which is headed by Don Bradman (961 points).
Number-one ranked Steve Smith of Australia is second on the all-time list with 947 points.
Kohli, while moving from 31st to 26th position, has leapfrogged Lara (911), Kevin Pietersen (909), Hashim Amla (907), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (901) and Michael Clarke (900).
Kohli now has his compatriot and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar firmly within his sights, who had achieved 916 points following The Oval Test against England in 1979. Kohli will now aim to gain five points and move ahead of Gavaskar either in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June or during the five-Test series against England in August/September.
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Batsmen to improve their rankings after the Johannesburg Test include Amla in seventh (up by one place), Dean Elgar in 12th (up by two places), Ajinkya Rahane in 18th (up by five places), while batsmen to head in the wrong direction are Faf du Plessis in 14th (down by two places), Lokesh Rahul in 20th (down by two places), Quinton de Kock in 27th (down by seven places) and Aiden Markram in 48th (down by 10 places).
There is no change in the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers as James Anderson comfortably leads Kagiso Rabada, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood and Ravichandran Ashwin.
The only bowlers inside the top 20 to improve their rankings include Morne Morkel, who has moved up two places to ninth, and Mohammed Shami, who has lifted to a career-best 15th position after earning two places.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar celeb
India’s trio of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are also on the charge.
Kumar has entered the top 20 in 20th position for the first time in his career after lifting two places, Sharma is now in 26th spot after rising three places and Bumrah is on a career-high 46th position after vaulting 36 places.
Kumar and Shami have also improved their rankings in the all-rounders’ list, which is headed by Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan. Kumar has risen eight places to join Rabada in 12th position and Shami has moved from 27th to 17th.
List of batsmen with 900 or more ranking points:
BATSMEN
Team
POINTS
D.G. Bradman
AUS
961
S.P.D. Smith
AUS
947
L. Hutton
ENG
945
R.T. Ponting
AUS
942
J.B. Hobbs
ENG
942
P.B.H. May
ENG
941
G.S. Sobers
WI
938
K.C. Sangakkara
SL
938
I.V.A. Richards
WI
938
C.L. Walcott
WI
938
J.H. Kallis
SA
935
M.L. Hayden
AUS
935
A.B. de Villiers
SA
935
Mohammad Yousuf
PAK
933
R.G. Pollock
SA
927
E.D. Weekes
WI
927
K.D. Walters
AUS
922
A.D. Nourse
SA
922
M.E.K. Hussey
AUS
921
R.N. Harvey
AUS
921
J.E. Root
ENG
917
D.C.S. Compton
ENG
917
S.M. Gavaskar
IND
916
G.A. Headley
WI
915
K.F. Barrington
ENG
914
V.Kohli
IND
912
B.C. Lara
WI
911
K.P. Pietersen
ENG
909
H.M. Amla
SA
907
S. Chanderpaul
WI
901
M.J. Clarke
AUS
900
ICC Player Rankings (as on 28 January, following Johannesburg Test)
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank ( /-) Player Team Points Average Highest Rating
1 ( – )  Steve Smith  Australia 947!  63.75 947 v Eng at Sydney 2018
2 ( – ) Virat Kohli India  912! 53.40  912 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
3 ( – )  Joe Root England  881  53.28  917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( – ) Kane Williamson New Zealand 855  50.62  893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( – )  David Warner Australia  827  48.77  880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6  ( – )  Cheteshwar Pujara India  810  50.51  888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7  ( 1) Hashim Amla South Africa  771  49.08  907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
8  (-1)  Azhar Ali Pakistan 755  46.62  787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
9  ( – ) Dinesh Chandimal Sri Lanka 743!  43.94 743 v Ind at Delhi 2017
10  ( – )  Alastair Cook England  742  46.35  874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
11  ( – )  Ross Taylor  New Zealand 738  48.04  871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
12  ( 2) Dean Elgar  South Africa  736  42.07  740 v NZ at Dunedin 2017
13  ( – )  AB de Villiers  South Africa  699  49.92  935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014
14 (-2)  Faf du Plessis  South Africa  697  45.10  734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
15  ( – )  Jonny Bairstow England  692  39.12  772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
16  ( – )  Kraigg Braithwaite  West Indies  690  37.43  701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
17  ( – )  Usman Khawaja  Australia  685  45.80  747 v Pak at Sydney 2017
18=  ( 1)  Shaun Marsh  Australia 660!  40.87  660 v Eng at Sydney 2018
  ( 5) Ajinkya Rahane India 660 43.68 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
20 (-2) KL Rahul India 657* 40.50 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
 BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank ( /-) Player Team Points Average Highest Rating
1 ( – )  James Anderson  England  887 27.40  896 v Win at Lord’s 2017
2  ( – )  Kagiso Rabada  South Africa  875  22.04 888 v Ind at Cape Town 2018
3  ( – )  Ravindra Jadeja  India  844  23.73  899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4  ( – )  Josh Hazlewood  Australia  814  25.77  863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
5  ( – )  R Ashwin  India  803  25.56  904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
6  ( – )  Rangana Herath  Sri Lanka  799  28.04  867 v Zim at Harare 2016
7  ( – )  Vernon Philander  South Africa  791  21.85  912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
8  ( – )  Neil Wagner  New Zealand  784  27.87  785 v Win at Wellington 2017
9  ( 2)  Morne Morkel  South Africa  773  28.08    776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011
10=  (-1) Nathan Lyon  Australia  769  31.64  774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
  (-1)  Mitchell Starc  Australia  769  27.73  805 v Pak at Brisbane 2016
12  ( 1)  Trent Boult  New Zealand  725  28.56  825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
13  (-1)  Dale Steyn  South Africa  722  22.32  909 v Win at Centurion 2014
14  ( – )  Yasir Shah  Pakistan  704  29.44  878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016
15  ( 2)  M Shami  India  703!  28.90  703 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
16  (-1)  Stuart Broad  England  683  29.33  880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
17  (-1)  Tim Southee  New Zealand  682  31.45  799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
18  ( – )  Shakib Al Hasan  Bangaldesh  668  32.35  705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
19 ( – ) Keshav Maharaj  South Africa  634*  26.78    695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
20 ( 2) B Kumar  India  626*!  26.09  626 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank ( /-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1  ( – )  Shakib Al Hasan Bangladesh 438  489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2  ( – )  Ravindra Jadeja India  391  438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3  ( – )  R Ashwin  India  368  493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
4  ( – )  Ben Stokes  England  358/*  396 v Win at Lord’s 2017
5  ( – )  Vernon Philander  South Africa  322  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

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