Kohli reclaims top ranking after match-winning effort

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India captain Virat Kohli’s effort of 97 and 103 in the third Test against England lifted him to the the 11th best ever in terms of rating points.

India captain Virat Kohli has reached a personal best of 937 rating points while reclaiming the top position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after the Trent Bridge Test.

The 29-year-old’s player of the match effort of 97 and 103 not only helped his team reduce the deficit in the five-match series to 2-1 after winning the third Test by 203 runs but has also lifted him to the 11th best ever in terms of rating points.

Kohli, who claimed the top spot for the first time after the opening Test in Birmingham but dropped to second after the Lord’s Test, is now only one point behind a group of four in the all-time list and with a good chance of going past them on current form that has seen him score 440 runs in the series.

The top 10 in the list are Don Bradman (961 points), Steven Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942), Ricky Ponting (942), Peter May (941), Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Sangakkara (all 938 points).

Cheteshwar Pujara remains the second highest ranked India batsman in the list, in sixth position, while Ajinkya Rahane (up four places to 19th), Shikhar Dhawan (up four places to 22nd) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (up eight places to 51st) have moved up after useful contributions at Trent Bridge.

Pandya has also reached the 51st spot in the bowlers’ rankings, gaining 23 slots to reach his career-best position after a crucial five-wicket haul in the first innings. His fellow fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul in England’s second innings has also lifted him to a career-best 37th position after a gain of eight places.

For England, Jos Buttler’s valiant 106 in the second innings has lifted him 22 places to 47thposition. Another significant gainer for England in the batsmen’s rankings is Adil Rashid, whose unbeaten 33 in the second innings has seen him gain eight slots to reach 116th position.

Rashid has also gained four slots to reach 47th position among bowlers after grabbing four wickets in the match, while Chris Woakes has inched up one place to 31st position after also finishing with four wickets in the third Test.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 23 August, following the Trent Bridge Test):

BATSMEN (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest rating
1 (+1) Virat Kohli Ind 937! 54.49 937 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2018
2 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
3 (+1) Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
4 (+1) David Warner Aus 820 48.2 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
5 (-2) Joe Root Eng 818 51.27 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
6 ( – ) C. Pujara Ind 763 49.3 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 ( – ) D. Karunaratne SL 754! 37.28 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( – ) D. Chandimal SL 733 44.96 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 (+1) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 (+1) Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
  11= (+1) Ross Taylor NZ 697 47.22 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
(-2) Jonny Bairstow Eng 697 38.55 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
13 ( – ) Kraigg Brathwaite Win 695 37.94 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
14 ( – ) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 ( – ) Azhar Ali Pak 672 44.84 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
16 ( – ) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
  17= ( – ) Alastair Cook Eng 641 45.11 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
(+1) Kusal Mendis SL 641 36.78 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
19 (+4) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 636 41.79 825 v NZ at Indore 2016
20 (-1) Usman Khawaja Aus 633 42 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

 

BOWLERS (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 ( – ) James Anderson Eng 899 26.85 903 v Ind at Lord’s 2018
2 ( – ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 ( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 840 23.11 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4 ( – ) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 (+1) Pat Cummins Aus 800*! 23.81 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
6 (+1) Trent Boult NZ 795 27.84 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015
7 (-2) R. Ashwin Ind 792 25.45 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
8 ( – ) Rangana Herath SL 791 27.95 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
9 ( – ) Neil Wagner NZ 765 28.26 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
10 ( – ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 759 26.84 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
11 ( – ) Shannon Gabriel Win 757! 29.57 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
12 ( – ) Stuart Broad Eng 734 28.91 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
13 ( – ) Jason Holder Win 731*! 29.35 731 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
  14= ( – ) Tim Southee NZ 720 30.82 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
( – ) Mitchell Starc Aus 720 28.17 805 v SA at Durban 2018
16 ( – ) Nathan Lyon Aus 710 32.21 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
17 ( – ) Keshav Maharaj SA 692* 27.65 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
18 ( – ) Yasir Shah Pak 683 29.44 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016
19 (+1) Kemar Roach Win 667 28.31 774 v SA at Centurion 2014
20 (+1) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 665 31.87 705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017

 

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 ( – ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
   2= (+2) Vernon Philander SA 370 379 v SL at Galle 2018
( – ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 370 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
4 (-1) R. Ashwin Ind 367 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
5 ( – ) Jason Holder Win 354/* 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018