India’s stand-in captain Virat Kohli returned to the top-20 list of batsmen and opener Murali Vijay also made an upward movement in the latest ICC Player rankings.
Kohli has been rewarded with 85 ratings points for hitting two centuries in the Adelaide Test, which has helped him vault 11 places to 16th position. Kohli had dropped to 26th following the conclusion of the series against England in August and had entered the Adelaide Test in 27th spot.
Kohli now trails South Africa’s Faf du Plessis by four ratings points, while 14th-ranked New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is another 14 ratings points ahead.
Vijay, who scored 53 and 99, has jumped eight places to 28th position. He can potentially move ahead of 24th-ranked Sarfraz Ahmed, whom he trails by 21 ratings points, depending on how he performs in the second Test, which starts in Brisbane on Wednesday, 17 December.
Meanwhile, Australia’s David Warner and Steven Smith have achieved career-best rankings in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings following stellar performances in the first Test against India, which the home side won by 48 runs to go 1-0 up in the four-Test series.
Warner, who scored 145 and 102, has moved up two places to a career-high fourth place in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen. In the process, the left-handed opener has also recorded his career-best rating of 880 to date. With the batting form he displayed in Adelaide, Warner has a further chance to move up the order as he trails South Africa’s second-ranked AB de Villiers by eight ratings points.
Smith’s 162 not out and 52 not out has put him inside the top 10 for the first time in his career. He has gained five places to a career-high eighth position to become Australia’s second-highest ranked batsmen, leapfrogging Michael Clarke (12th).
Smith is now two ratings points clear of England’s Joe Root and 27 ratings points adrift of Pakistan’s seventh-ranked Younus Khan. Smith’s current 791 ratings points are also his best to date as the Adelaide Test earned him 61 ratings points.
Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara comfortably sits on top of the batting table. In the ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has returned to the top 20 after producing man of the match performance.
The 27-year-old returned match figures of 12 for 286, including seven for 152 in the second innings, to gain four places in the latest rankings that has put him in 19th position. Lyon had slipped out of the top 20 following the series in the UAE, but he now has 17th ranked Junaid Khan of Pakistan firmly within his sights who is just 19 ratings points ahead.
Australia’s Ryan Harris has slipped from second position to fourth, which has moved Rangana Herath and Mitchell Johnson up by one place each. Johnson now leads his new ball partner by three ratings points but trails the Sri Lanka off-spinner by 16 ratings points. The bowling table is headed by South Africa’s Dale Steyn.
