Virat Kohli leapfrogs Brian Lara in the ICC Test rankings

Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been rewarded for his match-winning knocks of 54 and 41 in the Johannesburg Test match against South Africa. The 29-year-old has gone past former Windies cricket legend Brian Lara and has now earned a total of 912 points in the Test rankings for batsmen. He is now ranked 26th in the all-time list of Test batsmen rankings.

Kohli goes past the greats

Australian skipper Steve Smith is second on the all-time list with 947 points. Kohli has gone past  Lara (911), Kevin Pietersen (909), Hashim Amla (907), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (901) and Michael Clarke (900). India are likely to play a Test match against Afghanistan before featuring in the 5-match Test series in England, and Kohli will have the feat in his sight.

Indian bowlers shining brightly

However, South African skipper Faf du Plessis dropped two places and is now on 14th position in the current rankings. India’s Lokesh Rahul, who had a forgettable Test series against the Proteas, is at the 20th spot. In the Test bowlers rankings, England’s James Anderson is at the top spot, followed by Kagiso Rabada, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood and Ravichandran Ashwin. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is at the 20th spot, all thanks to his impressive show in the Test series where he picked 10 wickets in 2 games. Lanky pacer Ishant Sharma is at the 26th place while Jasprit Bumrah finds himself on 46th place.

Kohli was the only player to score a hundred in the recently concluded Test series. He was also the top run-getter with 286 runs from 3 Tests. He will look to topple former great Sunil Gavaskar who peaked during a Test match against England at the Oval in 1979 and recorded 916 points.

Kohli also showcased his leadership skills throughout the series and was delighted on winning the final Test.

“It could be a massive milestone for us. We already had the belief but now we have the result to back it up. We certainly believe that on any conditions, we have the ability to think about winning Tests,” Kohli told reporters.