ICC Test Rankings: Steve Smith becomes the No. 1 batsman; Virat Kohli slips to second spot
Australian batsman Steve Smith, with 911 points, has regained the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen after Indian skipper Virat Kohli suffered a poor outing against New Zealand in the first Test held at Basin Reserve. The latter could only manage to score 21 runs in two innings combined as India lost by ten wickets to concede a 1-0 deficit in the two-match series.
Kohli's poor patch has been a talking point in his last 20 outings, where he hasn't scored a hundred, which has led him to fall to the second spot with 906 points. On the other hand, Smith has occupied the top rank for the eighth time in his career, having first claimed the position in June 2015.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson moved to the third spot (853 points) after scoring a magnificent 89 runs against India in the first Test against a decent bowling attack. As Australia last featured in the whites back in January, Marnus Labuschagne has notably dropped to the fourth spot with 827 points.
Babar Azam (800 points) and David Warner (793 points) have reclaimed the fifth and the sixth spot respectively. Indian opener Mayank Agarwal has reclaimed his career-best position of number 10 with an aggregate points tally of 727 points. While Cheteshwar Pujara has dropped to two places into the ninth, fellow Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane has moved to the eighth spot with 760 points.
In the ICC Test Rankings for the bowlers, Australian pacer Pat Cummins still leads the charts with 904 points, followed by Neil Wagner (843 points), Jason Holder (830 points), Kagiso Rabada (802 points), and Mitchell Starc (796 points) as the top five have retained their respective positions.
Following his brilliant combined spell of 9-110 against India in the first Test at Basin Reserve, Tim Southee has jumped eight positions straight to the sixth spot with 794 points. As Ravichandran Ashwin (765 points) and Kemar Roach (763 points) have slipped a place each, Josh Hazlewood has gained the eighth rank with 769 points.