According to the ICC Test rankings issued on Wednesday, India skipper Virat Kohli retained his top spot among batsmen, while the young Australian batting sensation Marnus Labuschagne achieved a career-best third place in the ICC Test Rankings. Labuschagne moved up by a spot after a match-winning double century against New Zealand in Sydney recently. He scored 215 and 59 in the third and final Test in Sydney and ended up amassing 549 runs from six innings against the Black Caps.
ICC Test Rankings: Virat Kohli Stays at top Spot
Kohli has remained static at the top spot with 928 points and is followed by Australia’s Steve Smith with 911 points. Apart from Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also feature in the top 10 of the list however, their rankings saw a drop of one and two places respectively. While Pujara sits at the sixth place with 791 points, Rahane is currently placed at the ninth spot with 759 points.
England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes has also made a jump of five places to enter the top 10 rankings for batsmen. Dom Sibley’s maiden Test century has lifted him 87 places to 80th while fast bowler James Anderson’s record 28th five-wicket haul in the first innings sees him back in the top 10 for bowlers.
Opener Dean Elgar (up by three places to 19th) and Aiden Markram (up by one place to 22nd) among batsmen and Anrich Nortje (up 34 places to 62nd) are the notable gainers for South Africa.
On the other hand, Australia’s Pat Cummins and New Zealand’s Neil Wagner are placed at the first and second spots respectively in the bowlers’ rankings. While Wagner had scalped 17 wickets in the three games against the Aussies in the recently held Test series, Cummins had picked up 12 wickets. The duo is followed by West Indies pacer and skipper Jason Holder, who jumped a place to be at the third spot.
From India, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, returning from an injury layoff, remained static at sixth position with 794 points, while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (772 points) and seamer Mohammed Shami (771) were ninth and 10th respectively.
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