The Indian team lost in the first match of the four-match Test series against Australia, but captain Virat Kohli reached close to the top Steve Smith in the latest rankings of the ICC Test batsmen with the help of 74 runs during the first innings in Adelaide. Huh. The half-century innings of the second-ranked Indian captain gained him two rating points, taking him to 888 rating points. Former Australia captain Smith, who scored one run in both innings of this Test, lost 10 points, leaving him 901 rating points.
Mars Labushane, who scored 46 and six runs in the first Test, reached a career-best 839 scoring points. He remains fourth with New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. Man of the match Australian captain Tim Paine reached a career-best 33rd position (592 rating points) from an unbeaten inning of 73 runs. Earlier, his best ranking was 45 which he achieved in 2018. Joe Burns, who scored an unbeaten 51 in the second innings, also managed to make it to the top 50 for the first time since 2016. He is ranked 48th.
Apart from Virat Kohli, the impact of the poor performance of Indian batsmen is also seen in this ranking. Cheteshwar Pujara slipped from seventh to eighth place, while Ajinkya Rahane dropped from the top 10 to 11th position. Opener batsman Mayank Agarwal has also slipped to the 14th position while Hanuma Vihari has dropped from the top 50 to 53rd position. Veteran Indian spinner R Ashwin, who took four wickets in Adelaide, has become the top Indian at the ninth position in the bowlers’ rankings, beating fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah slipped to the 10th position.
Australia’s Pat Cummins remains the top bowler in the rankings, taking seven wickets in the match. He has strengthened his lead over second-placed Stuart Broad. Josh Hazlewood, who took five wickets for eight runs in the second innings, advanced to the top five with an improvement of four places. The bowler, ranked fifth, has 805 rating points.
