Dubai : India captain Virat Kohli reached a career-high fourth position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen after producing a man of the match performance in the second Test against England which India won by 246 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Kohli is currently top-ranked in Twenty20 Internationals and has also held the top position in One-Day Internationals, but has never moved above 10th place in Tests. However, his sublime knocks of 167 and 81 in Visakhapatnam have helped him jump 10 slots and cross the 800-point mark for the first time, becoming only the 11th India batsman to do so.
For his efforts in Visakhapatnam, Kohli has earned 97 points. The 28-year-old from Delhi now trails second-ranked Joe Root of England by 22 points. Another strong performance in the Mohali Test, which begins on Saturday will mean he will edge closer in his quest to top the batting table. Middle-order batsman Cheteshwar Pujara has gained one place to reach ninth rank after scoring 119 and one, while the England pair of wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow and all-rounder Ben Stokes have also made significant gains.
Bairstow has moved up four places to reach 12th position after scoring 53 and 34 not out, while Stokes has moved up five slots to 28th position after scoring 70 and six. In the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, India fast bowler Mohammad Shami has gained five places to reach a career-high 21st rank and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja has moved up one position to sixth place. For England, Stuart Broad (up one place) and Moeen Ali (up four places), have achieved fifth and 23rd positions, respectively. PTI
