ICC Rankings: Williamson surpasses Smith and Kohli to take top position, Rahane climbs to sixth

Dubai, Dec 31: After a long time, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson is at the top ahead of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to grab the first position for the batsman in the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings after his player of the match effort in the first Test against Pakistan in Tauranga.

 

Willamson had briefly occupied the top spot towards the end of 2015 but either Smith or Kohli have been number one since then. This year too, Smith was at the top for 313 days and Kohli for 51, before Williamson surged ahead of his two contemporaries from the ICC Under-19 Men's Cricket World Cup 2008.

 

 

"In Thursday's year-ending update, which also included performances from the second Test between Australia and India in Melbourne and the first Test between South Africa and Sri Lanka in Centurion, Williamson has gained 13 rating points for his effort of 129 and 21 to go 11 points clear of Kohli and 13 ahead of Smith. Kohli is on paternity leave for the last three Tests of India's ongoing series against Australia while Smith's MCG outing could only get him scores of zero and eight," the International Cricket Council said.

 

Ajinkya Rahane, leading in Kohli's absence, has gained big after guiding India to a series-leveling eight-wicket win in Melbourne with scores of 112 and 27 not out. Rahane has advanced five places to reach the sixth position, just one below his career-best of fifth attained in October 2019.

 

Meanwhile, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (up two places to seventh) and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah (up one place to ninth) have made notable gains within the top 10.

 

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is another big gainer, moving up 11 spots to a career best-equalling 36th place among batsmen after a handy knock of 57 in his only innings in Melbourne and gaining four places to reach 14th place among bowlers after finishing with three wickets in the match. He remains third among all-rounders but has reduced the gap with Jason Holder 34 to seven points.

 

Debutants Shubman Gill and Mohammad Siraj have made notable entries in 76th and 77th positions in the list for batsmen and bowlers, respectively. Gill scored 45 and 35 not out opening the innings while Siraj finished with five wickets in the match.