Kane Williamson back at No. 1, Rishabh Pant drops a spot in latest ICC Test rankings
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has returned to the pinnacle of the ICC Test rankings for batsmen after his dogged showing at the World Test Championship final. Former Australian captain Steve Smith made way for him and now sits second in the rankings, trailing Williamson by 10 points.
Williamson scored a defiant 177-ball 49 in the first innings amid tough batting conditions in Southampton and followed it up with an unbeaten 52 in the second innings to seal the historic win for his team.
Williamson's opposite number for the match, Indian captain Virat Kohli, has maintained his 4th spot in the ICC rankings. The 32-year-old looked in decent touch in the WTC final and recorded scores of 44 (132) and 13 (29) but once again failed to capitalize on starts.
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (3rd), England captain Joe Root (5th), and Indian opener Rohit Sharma (6th) have held on to their spots as well. Sharma scored a couple of 30s in the WTC final, taking India off to good starts but, like his captain, failing to make it big.
Rishabh Pant, Henry Nicholls drop spots; David Warner Quinton de Kock rise in the ICC Test rankings
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant's meteoric rise in the ICC Test rankings took a bump as he dropped a spot in the table to No. 7. He was tied with Sharma for the 6th position in the last release but a sub-par showing (4 and 41) in the WTC final impacted the rating, shunting him behind the former by just seven points.
New Zealand's Henry Nicholls, who couldn't have a big impact on the summit clash either, also fell by two ranks to No. 10. His plummet allowed David Warner - who hasn't played a Test in more than six months - and Quinton de Kock - who was brilliant against the West Indies - some flight.
Warner is now ranked 8th with 724 points, followed by De Kock with 717.