Australia’s Steve Smith has surpassed Indian captain Virat Kohli in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen by a point. Smith now has 904 points compared to 903 of Kohli.
Smith scored two centuries – 144 and 142 – in Australia’s 251-run win in the first Ashes Test and 92 at Lord’s. However, he suffered a concussion after being hit on the head by Jofra Archer in the second Test at Lord’s, returns after sitting out last week’s agonising loss at Headingley which levelled the five-match series 1-1 with two Tests to play.
Smith has scored 378 runs at an average of 126 in three innings in the series and was back on the field in last week’s tour match against Derbyshire.
Kohli, on the other hand, has a relatively quiet series against the West Indies where he scored just two half-centuries.
That allowed Smith, who missed the third Test at Headingley, to open up a single-point lead in the latest rankings. He has a chance to extend that lead in the fourth Ashes Test, starting at Manchester on Wednesday.
Smith was on the top spot since December 2015. It was only in August 2018, when he was serving a ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal, that Kohli overtook him after reaching career-high rating points in the series against England.
England’s Joe Root and India’s Ajinkya Rahane were the other movers in the rankings moving up to sixth and seventh spot respectively. Hanuma Vihari, described by Kohli as “the find of the series”, shot up 40 places to No 30 after just six Tests following a fruitful West Indies tour.
The Australian had been the No 1 Test batsman from December 2015 to August 2018 but lost the ranking while he was on the sidelines serving his 12-month suspension from international cricket.
In the bowlers’ ranking India’s hero in the 2-0 Test series win, Jasprit Bumrah moved up to the third spot in the rankings closing in on Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins at the top.
Bumrah, who is currently the No.1 ODI bowler, continued his impressive run to climb up to the third spot with a career-best 835 rating points.
Bumrah is now only behind Australia’s Pat Cummins and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder, who is already No.1 on the ICC Test rankings for all-rounders, rose seven places to join England’s James Anderson at the fourth spot. He picked up six wickets in the second Test, including 5/77 in the first innings.
Among other movers in the bowling chart were India’s Mohammed Shami (up one to No 18) and Ishant Sharma (up one to No 20).
Bumrah, who earlier in the series became the fastest Indian to pick up 50 Test wickets, has had an exceptional time in red-ball cricket since his debut in early 2018, racing to 62 wickets in just 12 matches.
In the just-concluded two Tests against the West Indies, Bumrah finished with 13 wickets at a strike rate of 9.23. That included figures of 5/7 in the first Test and a hat-trick in the first innings of the second Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica. India won the series 2-0.
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