Team India skipper Virat Kohli’s poor performances in the red ball cricket against New Zealand has impacted Indian batting great’s international ranking. Virat Kohli, who failed to impress in the Wellington Test and scored only 2 & 19 runs, has slipped from the top position of ICC Test batsman ranking on Wednesday. Virat Kohli lost 5 points for his overseas flop show, helping Australia’s Steve Smith to reclaim the number 1 position.
The latest Test batsman rankings were shared by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on its official website and the micro-blogging site Twitter. The ranking table shows Steve Smith at the top with 911 points, followed by Virat Kohli (906 points) and Kane Willaimson (853 points).
It was a total disaster by Team India in the Wellington Test as visitors faced a humiliating 10-wicket defeat on a green track. The BlackCaps had to score only 9 runs in the second innings to win the match.
Other than the captain, middle-order batsmen Ajinkya Rahane (760), Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara (757) and opener Mayank Agarwal (727) managed to secure 8th, 9th and 10th positions respectively.
After scores of 2 and 19 in the first #NZvIND Test, Virat Kohli has suffered a slip, allowing Steve Smith to move back to the No.1 spot on the @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Rankings for batsmen! pic.twitter.com/JtakdSdp6C
— ICC (@ICC) February 26, 2020
The latest rankings are not less than a heartbreaker for speedster Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami too. Both of them have been dropped from the ICC Top 10 bowlers’ rankings, leaving R Ashwin as lone Indian bowlers at the 9th spot with 765 points.
However, it was a piece of good news for Kiwi’s as their captain, Kane Willaimson surpassed Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne to bag the third spot. He had scored the match-winning 89 runs at the Basin Reserve against India’s strong bowling line up.
Pacer Tim Southee jumped 8 points in the bowlers’ list. Fans called it a reward for his 9-wicket performance against India in the first Test.
