Australian cricketer and ex-captain Steve Smith became the top-ranked Test batsman in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. He passed the skipper of the Indian cricket team Virat Kohli. Smith leads the charts with 911 points while Kohli is second with 906 points, just 5 points behind the Australian.
Kohli lost his position after a dismal performance in the recent Test series against New Zealand, the first match of which was played in Wellington on February 21. The right-hand batsman could only manage to score 21 runs. Three other Indian batsmen have found a place in the top 10 as well- Ajinkya Rahane is in the eighth position, Cheteshwar Pujara is in the ninth position and Mayank Agarwal made his way to the top 10 as he claimed the 10th position with 727 points for the first time.
Kane Williamson gained 31 points after his innings of 89 runs because of the overall low team scores in the match. The exceptional Indian attack also helped advance his rating system.
Other New Zealand players Ross Taylor and Colin Grandhomme also moved up the batsmen’s list. Fast bowlers Tim Southee who took nine wickets and Trent Boult who took five wickets have also made leaps in their rankings.
Southee currently sits in the sixth position after moving ahead eight spots, which is his highest since his career-best fifth place in June 2014. Trent Boult has also moved up four slots to take the joint-13th position.
Bangladesh cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim rose five places to return to the top 20 after his double-century in Mirpur. The captain of Bangladesh’s cricket team, Mominul Haque has moved up five places to 39th after scoring 132 runs.
Nayeem Hasan moved 29 places forward, settling in at 38th position among bowlers. Aby Jayed has moved up 11 places and is now in the 46th position.
Kohli is in the midst of a dismal tour of New Zealand, where he failed to perform in either the T20I and the ODI series. He will be aiming for a strong finish in the second and last Test that begins from February 29.
