Just before the start of the second and final Test between India and South Africa, ICC has released the latest Test rankings and India's Virat Kohli has started the new year on a good note. Thanks to his brilliant 76 in the second innings of the Centurion Test and a decent 38 in the first essay of the game, the former India skipper has entered the top 10 rankings in Test cricket for the first time in more than a year.
He jumped four places after spending quite some time in the ninth position and is the only Indian batter in top 10. India captain Rohit Sharma has come down four places after scores of 5 and 0 in the last Test match and is now at 14th position in the rankings with 719 rating points. Centurions of the last game KL Rahul and Dean Elgar have also benefitted with the former jumping 11 places and settling on the 51st place in the rankings. On the other hand, Elgar climbed a massive 19 places to enter top 20 and is currently on 17th position.
Among other batters, Kane Williamson continues to be on top of the rankings while Joe Root and Steve Smith follow him. Interestingly, Daryl Mitchell has climbed three places to fourth position without playing as Usman Khawaja, Babar Azam and Travis Head all have been displaced to end on 5th, 6th and 10th place in the rankings.
Among bowlers, there are not many changes in top 10 as Ravichandran Ashwin continues to be on top with 872 rating points while Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are the other Indian players in top 10 at 4th and 5th place respectively. Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada is at second with 854 rating points while Australia skipper Pat Cummins is at third with 841 points to his name. Perhaps, Cummins can even jump to either second or first position next week as he has already picked a five-wicket haul in the ongoing Sydney Test against Pakistan.
