Virat Kohli in action during 1st Test against Australia in Adelaide
Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who on Saturday played his final game for the year 2020, reduced the gap atop between him and Steve Smith despite India's horrifying batting collapse in the opening Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Adelaide. Meanwhile Aussie pacer and wrecker-in-chief, Josh Hazlewood, stormed into the top five in the bowler' ranking.
Kohli made a crucial and gritty 74 on day 1 of the Pink Ball Test opener at the Adelaide Oval before suffering an unfortunate run out. An aggressive shot however reduced to score to just four in the second innings, where India collapsed to 36 for nine, their lowest ever Test total in the history of cricket. Although he remained at the second spot in the ICC rankings, the half-century helped him gain two points to reduce the gap between him and Smith from 25 to 13. Smith's tally reduced from 911 o 901 owing his score of two runs across the two innings although he remained not out in the second.
Hazlewood, who finished with his career's eighth five-wicket haul on Saturday, jumped four places to take the fifth spot in the bowler's list. Pat Cummins, who picked four wickets in the second innings on Saturday, consolidated his spot atop, taking his tally from 901 to 910, four points less than his career-best rating attained in August 2019.
India's Ravichandran Ashwin jumped two places to take the ninth spot in the bowler's list after his 4 for 55 on day 2 of the first Test, his best figure on Australian soil. Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile lost two places to slip to the 10th spot.
India will face Australia on December 26 for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
