Virat Kohli moves up; Rohit slips in ICC Test Rankings
India's run-machine Virat Kohli (767 points) has improved in the latest ICC Test Rankings. He moved two places after scoring 79 and 29 in Cape Town during his last Test match as Indian skipper. He replaced Dimuth Karunaratne (754) from the seventh spot. India's limited-overs captain Rohit Sharma has slipped one place to be placed sixth. He was replaced by Travis Head.
Why does it matter?
Kohli has been going through a rare lean patch in his career and despite that, he has maintained his position in the top ten by scoring 30s and 40s regularly. However, his inability to cross the three-digit mark saw him getting removed from the top 5. Rohit (773), meanwhile, dropped points after missing the just-concluded Test series against South Africa with an injury.
Travis Head moves up
Following his player of the match performance in the last Ashes Test, Head (773) reached his career-best fifth in ICC Test Rankings. He scored 101 runs in the first innings at Hobart to finish the series with 357 runs. He also won the player of the series award despite missing the SCG Test with positive COVID-19 result. Head's exploits helped him gain seven spots.
Steve Smith slips to number four
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne has maintained his spot at the top with 935 points. He is closely followed by Joe Root (872). Kane Williamson (862) has moved to the third spot after Steve Smith's (845) mediocre outing in Hobart saw him drop to fourth. Pakistan's Babar Azam (750) and New Zealand's Tom Latham (728) are static at 9th and 10th respectively.
Pant and Bumrah rise
India's flamboyant wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has moved ten places up to 14th following his hard-fought century in Cape Town. Meanwhile, ace seamer Jasprit Bumrah's six wickets in the said Test helped him back to the top 10.
Keegan Petersen gains big
South Africa's Keegan Petersen has seen a rapid rise after his match-winning (72 and 82) performance against India in Cape Town Test. He shot up 68 places to be 33rd. He finished the three-match Test series against India as the leading run-getter (276 runs) to take the Player of the Series trophy home. Petersen scored three fifties in the Test series.
Australia's Cameron Green and Scott Boland rise
Cameron Green moved 23 places to finish at joint 66th place in the batting chart after scoring 74 and 23 in the last Ashes Test. He moved 13 places in the Test Rankings for Bowlers to be 62nd, courtesy of his four wickets (both innings combined) in the final game. Following his four wickets in Hobart, Scott Boland rose six places to be 43rd.
Andreson displaced by Southee
James Anderson (788) has slipped to the seventh position with Tim Southee (795) displacing him. Following his six wickets in the last Test, Stuart Broad moved two places up to finish 12th. Pat Cummins (895) is leading the bowling chart, followed by R Ashwin (861). Kagiso Rabada (828) is at third. He is followed by Kyle Jamieson (825) and Shaheen Afridi (822).
Ben Stokes slips to 7th
In the ICC Test Rankings for All-rounders, Jamieson (292) has moved to the sixth spot while Ben Stokes (287) slipped to seventh. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja remain second and third respectively. Jason Holder is leading the list while Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan is fourth, followed by Mitchell Starc. Cummins, Chris Woakes, and Colin de Grandhomme are occupying the 8th, 9th, and 10th spot respectively.
