India captain Virat Kohli has been duly rewarded for his splendid batting form in the longer format as he moves to the number two spot in the latest ICC Test batsmen rankings rolled out on Thursday. Kohli was adjudged 'Man of the Series' award for his superb batting performance in the recently concluded three-Test series between India and Sri Lanka.
In the final Test against Lanka in Delhi, the 28-year old registered his career-best score of 243 which was followed with a quick-fire 50. However, the match was ended in a draw. India clinched the series 1-0 to register their ninth straight victory in the longer format of the game. Kohli moved up to three places in Test rankings after plundering 610 runs in five innings against Sri Lanka, including two double-centuries and a century. He is now at 893 points, still considerably behind the top-ranked Steven Smith, who has 938 points. Kohli has gone past Joe Root, who is on 879 points, with Cheteshwar Pujara close behind on 873.
Kohli scored at a stupendous average of 152.50 against the Lankans, he started the series in the sixth position but has leapfrogged David Warner, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kane Williamson and Joe Root to climb to the second spot.
Kohli would be eyeing the chance of reaching the zenith in all three formats since he is the currently holding the numero uno spot in the ODIs and T20Is.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is the only batsman to have been at the top in all three formats at the same time - in December-January 2005-06, while his compatriot Matthew Hayden is the other batsman to have topped all three formats.
In the latest rankings, England captain Joe Root is third with 879 points while India's Cheteshwar Pujara is fourth with 873 points.
Kohli has been rested for the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka and will be back in action when India take South Africa in away-from-home series from January 5.
