Virat Kohli’s heroic efforts with the bat in the first Test against England have lifted him to the No 1 place on the latest ICC Test rankings.
India lost the Edgbaston Test by 31 runs, but it wasn’t for lack of trying on the part of their talismanic leader. Kohli scored 149 – his 22nd Test century – and 51, a total of exactly 200 runs even as India, the No 1 Test team in the world, scored only 274 and 162.
Kohli overtakes former Australia captain Steve Smith, who hasn’t played any Test cricket since being suspended for his role in the ball-tampering incident in the Cape Town Test against South Africa in March.
Kohli now leads Smith – who had held the top spot since December 2015 – by five points.
There were no changes in the status of South Africa’s batsmen, apart from Faf du Plessis climbing one place to 16th.
England’s 20-year-old Sam Curran, who was Man of the Match in the first Test after scoring 24 and 63 and claiming match figures of 5-92, was lifted significantly.
In the batting table, Curran has jumped from 152nd to 72nd, the bowling table has seen him rise 49 places to 62nd, while in the all-rounders’ category, he now sits in 37th position after jumping 58 places.
The batsmen to lose ground after the Edgbaston Test include Alastair Cook (17th, down by four places), Lokesh Rahul (19th, down by one), Ajinkya Rahane (22nd, down by three places), Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who now share 25th position (down by one and two spots, respectively) and Ben Stokes (33rd, down by five).
In the bowlers’ table, Stuart Broad and Mohammed Shami are the two bowlers inside the top 20 who have headed in the opposite direction, while James Anderson has retained his top position but his lead over Kagiso Rabada has been reduced to two points.
BATSMEN
1 (+1) Virat Kohli ( India) 934 pts, av: 54.28; highest rating: 934 v Eng at Edgbaston 2018
2 (-1) Steve Smith (Australia) 929 pts, av: 61.37; rating: 947 v SA at Durban 2018
3 ( – ) Joe Root (England) 865 pts, av: 52.18; rating: 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( – ) Kane Williamson (NZ) 847 pts, av: 50.35; rating: 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( – ) David Warner (Australia) 820 pts, av: 48.20; rating: 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( – ) C. Pujara (India) 791 pts, av: 50.34; rating: 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 ( – ) D. Karunaratne (SL) 754 pts, av: 37.28; rating: 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( – ) D. Chandimal (SL) 733 pts, av: 44.96; rating: 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 ( – ) Dean Elgar (SA) 724 pts, av: 41.05; rating: 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 ( – ) Aiden Markram (SA) 703 pts, av: 47.27; rating: 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
14 ( – ) Hashim Amla (SA) 673pts, av: 47.23; rating: 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
16 (+1) Faf du Plessis (SA) 665 pts, av: 42.33; rating: 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
BOWLERS
1 ( – ) James Anderson (Enland) 884 pts, av: 27.19; highest rating: 896 v Win at Lord’s 2017
2 ( – ) Kagiso Rabada (SA) 882 pts, av: 21.71; rating: 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja (India) 857 pts, av: 23.11; rating: 899 v Aus at Ranchi 201
4 ( – ) Vernon Philander (SA) 826 pts, av: 21.54; rating: 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( – ) R. Ashwin (India) 825 pts, av: 25.17; rating: 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
6 ( – ) Pat Cummins (Australia) 800 pts, av: 23.81; rating: 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
7 ( – ) Trent Boult (NZ) 795 pts, av: 27.84; rating: 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
8 ( – ) Rangana Herath (SL) 791pts, av: 27.95; rating: 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
9 ( – ) Neil Wagner (NZ) 765 pts, av: 28.26; rating: 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
10 ( – ) Josh Hazlewood (Australia) pts, av: 759pts, av: 26.84; rating: 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
17 (+1) Keshav Maharaj (SA) 692pts, av: 27.65; rating: 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images
