Kohli back at the ICC Test Rankings summit
DUBAI – Virat Kohli returned to the top of the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen after his scores of 97 and 103 in the Trent Bridge Test against England helped India to a 203-run victory on Wednesday.
Kohli’s feats took him to 937 rating points – the highest he’s reached so far – and that helped push him back atop Steve Smith in the charts. Kohli had reached the No.1 spot after totalling 200 runs in the first Test at Edgbaston, but scores of 23 and 17 at Lord’s meant he slipped back down.
He is now only one point outside the top 10 of an all-time rating points list: Don Bradman (961 points), Steve Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both on 942), Peter May (941), and Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Kumar Sangakkara (all on 938 points).
His rise after India’s impressive victory at Trent Bridge was one of several gains made by Indians across departments in the latest update.
No one impressed more than Hardik Pandya. The all-rounder had come into the series with critics questioning his place in the side, but he answered them with his maiden five-wicket haul – a 5/28 in the first innings – and a run-a-ball 52*.
It meant Pandya rose to No.51 in the batsmen’s rankings, a jump of eight spots, but his rising stock was more keenly felt in the bowlers’ charts: he moved up 23 places to No.51, with a career-high 340 points.
His all-round display meant he also moved up significantly in the all-rounders rankings: he now sits at No.17, after a massive jump of 27 places.
Jasprit Bumrah was another Indian who impressed. He was unavailable for selection in the first two Tests due to injury, but he made his presence felt in his first match on tour. His 5/85 in the second innings accounted for Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler, who had scored his maiden Test century.