7 great batsmen who never topped the ICC Test rankings chart
One of the greatest joys of being a sports fan is the ability to fiddle around with numbers, and no other sport satiates the inner nerd quite like cricket. In modern-day cricket, two men have taken the burden upon themselves to redefine all numbers and the way we look at them.
Since the Adelaide Test in 2014, Steve Smith has played 39 Tests and has scored 4500 runs at an average of almost 80 with 19 hundreds. All this has meant that Smith now sits at No 2 behind Don Bradman in the ICC all-time rating list. Smith has 947 rating points compared to Bradman's 961.
India might have lost the second Test against South Africa in Centurion, but it didn't stop Virat Kohli from creating new records. Kohli scored a magnificent 153 and became only the 2nd Indian batsman to achieve 900 rating points after Gavaskar and only the 31st batsman in Test history to do so.
Interesting Plot-twist: Kohli has never been the No. 1 Test batsman in the world.
The following is a look at 7 great players who have never been World No 1. Some still have a shot, and for others, the train has long left the station.
#7 GRAEME SMITH: SOUTH AFRICA
HIGHEST RATING: 843 (January 18, 2010)
HIGHEST RANKING: 2 (January 18, 2010)
One of the greatest openers of his generation, Graeme Smith played 117 Tests in his career, scoring 9265 runs at an average of 48. Smith led South Africa in over 100 Tests, and took them to the top of the ICC Rankings Chart. Smith also briefly held the top spot in both ODI and T20I Batting Rankings.
The only thing missing from Smith's resume, apart from an ICC Trophy, is the No 1 ranking as a Test batsman. Smith rose to No. 2 in the Test rankings after his century against Englands at Johannesburg, but couldn't get past Gautam Gambhir who sat atop the rankings at that time.
The southpaw's form dipped post that, and while he was a top-20 batsman for the rest of his career, he never posed a serious challenge for the top spot again.