Indian captain Virat Kohli on Monday lost his number one position in the ICC Test rankings for batsmen, dropping to second after a forgettable performance in second Test at Lord’s against England.
Kohli lost the position to former Australia captain Steve Smith, who is currently serving a one-year ban following his role in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa earlier this year.
The India captain played knocks of 23 and 17 as his side succumbed to 107 and 130 to slide to an innings and 159-run loss. The low scores have led to a fall in rankings for most India players with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin being the notable exception.
The 32-year-old has moved up in the list for batsmen from 67th to 57th, with defiant knocks of 29 and 33 not out. Ashwin has also leapfrogged South Africa’s Vernon Philander to grab the third position among all-rounders. Meanwhile, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has moved up 25 places to take the 74th spot among bowlers with a three-wicket haul at Lord’s.
Another feather in Anderson’s cap
England paceman James Anderson has become only the seventh England bowler to breach the 900-point mark in the rankings after a memorable display against India.
Anderson’s match figures of 9/43 enabled him to reach 903 points and join a select group comprising Sydney Barnes (932), George Lohmann (931), Tony Lock (912), Ian Botham (911), Derek Underwood (907) and Alec Bedser (903), all of whom peaked at over 900 points during their careers.
England’s all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests with 553 scalps, Anderson is the only one to claim 100 Test wickets at Lord’s. He is the first England bowler to breach the coveted mark since Botham touched 900 points in August 1980.
Anderson now leads second-placed South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada by 21 points in the bowlers’ list. Another one to make a mark in the Lord’s Test in the latest rankings is England all-rounder Chris Woakes, whose splendid century and useful bowling efforts see him move up all three charts – for batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders.
Woakes, who slammed an unbeaten 137 and chipped in with four wickets in the match, has gained 34 places to reach a career-best 50th position among batsmen while also moving up three places to 32nd among bowlers, and by five places to seventh among all-rounders.
Another England player to catch the eye in the latest rankings is wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, whose 93-run knock has lifted him back to the top 10. The Yorkshireman is now in ninth place. Stuart Broad (up one place to 12th) among bowlers, and batsmen Jos Buttler (up one place to 69th) and Ollie Pope (125th) also made their mark.
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