Finally, it has happened! Indian captain Virat Kohli has regained his place at the top of the ICC Test batsmen's raking. In the latest rankings released on Wednesday, Kohli went past his main Australian rival Steve Smith and established a five-point lead with a total of 928. Smith, who made his international comeback with the World Cup, has 923 points.
The relegation of Smith may be due to the fact that he didn't get a half-century in both the Tests against Pakistan played recently. To be fair, he got to play only two innings as both matches were won by Australia with a margin of an innings.
Smith had to miss a year of cricket due to a ban imposed on him after the ball-tampering scandal. But the former Australia captain made a roaring comeback to Test cricket when he piled up more than 700 runs in the Ashes series. This took him back to the top of the rankings but with the Indian captain also in great form, he has been pushed back to the second spot.
The other two Indians in the top-10 are Cheteshwar Pujara who retains his fourth spot while Ajinkya Rahane loses one level to be at sixth.
Other names
The man at third position in the rankings is New Zealand captain Kane Williamson who scored a hundred the day before to help his team win a home series against England. The other member of the 'Fab Four' – Joe Root – who had been struggling with his form, registered a great comeback with a brilliant double hundred against New Zealand and rose four places to number seven.
David Warner, who plundered nearly 500 runs in two innings against Pakistan, makes a quantum leap of 12 places to be at number five. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne also goes up six places to gain the eighth spot.
Bowlers' ranking
Among bowlers, Australia's Pat Cummins remains the apex performer with exactly 900 points. Kagiso Rabada of South Africa comes second with 839 points. Interestingly, West Indies captain Jason Holder, despite his team's poor performance against India at home, goes up one place to third.
Three Indians are on the list, with the leading name being that of Jasprit Bumrah who stays at fifth with 794 points. Ravichandran Ashwin also remains static at ninth with 772 points while Mohammad Shami, by gaining one place, brings up the rear in the top-10.
All-rounders
In the all-rounders' ranking, the top five positions continue to be held by the same players. Leading the pack is Jason Holder while Ravindra Jadeja is at second. Ravichandran Ashwin is at fifth. The most high-profile all-rounder at the moment – Ben Stokes – is occupying third place.
