Cheteshwar Pujara’s knocks of 123 and 71 were the cornerstone of India’s victory against Australia in the first Test in Adelaide. Pujara has now moved ahead of Joe Root and David Warner in fourth position. He trails third-ranked Steve Smith by 55 points, and leads Joe Root by 39 points.
Pujara now has 846 points to his name and is closing in fast on Smith. Kohli had a test match to forget with the bat and his scores of 3 and 34 saw him remain top with 920 points but with Kane Williamson breathing down his neck.
Williamson has become the first New Zealand batsman and 32nd overall to break the 900-point barrier in the ICC Rankings for Test batsmen following a stellar performance in the third Test against Pakistan, which helped his side to win their first away series against the Asian side in 49 years.
The Kiwi batsman scored 89 and 139 in Abu Dhabi last week, which set up New Zealand’s convincing 123-run victory over Pakistan. This performance not only helped Williamson to win the Player of the Match award, but also earn 37 points in the latest player rankings, which, in turn, has allowed him to leapfrog Australia’s Steve Smith into second position on a career-high 913 points.
With the top two separated only by seven points, the Indian captain will be under pressure to perform strongly with the bat in the second Test starting in Perth from Friday otherwise he will potentially lose his number-one ranking he has been holding since the Edgbaston Test against England in August.
There was further good news for New Zealand, whose Henry Nicholls has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career. Nicholls scored 126 not out in the second innings and stitched up a 212-run fifth wicket partnership with Williamson as New Zealand set Pakistan a 280-run target after having conceded a 74-run first innings lead.
For this performance, Nicholls has jumped from 17th to ninth by rising eight places to become his side’s second batsman inside the top-10. BJ Watling has also made an upward movement and is now ranked 22nd after gaining four places.
Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq, who scored centuries for Pakistan in the first innings, have made small gains. Azhar has moved up two places to 10th, while Asad is now 21st after rising one place.
India fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has achieved a career-high ranking of 33rd, after his three for 47 and three for 68 helped him to rise five places.
Nathan Lyon of Australia, who took eight wickets in the Test, has consolidated his 14th position while reducing the gap with 13th ranked Neil Wagner from 34 points to eight points.
The other two notable movers from the Adelaide Test are Ajinkya Rahane in 17th (up by two places) and Mitchell Starc in 16th (up by two places).
Amongst the newcomers, Australia’s Marcus Harris has entered in 116th batting position, while amongst the bowlers, off-spinner William Somerville of New Zealand has emerged in 63rd spot and Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has popped up in 111th place.
BATSMEN (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Virat Kohli Ind 920 53.96 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
2 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 913 51.56 913 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2018
3 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 901 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
4 (+2) C. Pujara Ind 846 50.48 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
5 (-1) Joe Root Eng 807 50.44 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
BOWLERS (top 20)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
2 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 874 26.98 903 v Ind at Lord’s 2018
3 (+1) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
4 (-1) M. Abbas Pak 821* 16.62 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018
5 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 804 23.50 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 415 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 392 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 370 378 v SL at Galle 2018
4 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 365 /* 381 v Ind at Hyderabad 2018
5 ( - ) Ben Stokes Eng 342 396 v Win at Lord’s 2017
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