Virat Kohli Drops Down To 5th Spot As ICC Announces Latest Test Players Rankings

The recently released ICC Test player’s rankings see Indian captain Virat Kohli dropping down to the fifth spot after the team’s loss to England in the first Test in Chennai. Virat Kohli could only manage scores of 11 and 72 in the two innings as India slipped to a 227-run loss and went down 0-1 in the four-match series.

The Indian captain has played just four Tests since 2020, including the two-match Test series in New Zealand, one Test against Australia in Adelaide, and this recent Test against England in Chennai. His absence on the Australia tour impacted his rankings tremendously and Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root scoring buckets of runs, which led to them overtaking Kohli in the recent rankings.

Joe Root moves to the no.3 spot while Marnus Labuschagne and Virat Kohli slip down

Joe Root had a bumper series against Sri Lanka in their own backyard, scoring 228 and 186 in two Tests. He then continued his amazing form with the bat against India in the first Chennai Test, which was also his 100^th match for England. He celebrated by becoming the first batsmen in history to score a double century (218) in his 100^th Test match.

Kane Williamson already had a brilliant outing against the West Indies and Pakistan making scores of 251, 129, and 238 at home, earning him the top spot in the rankings with 919 rating points. Steve Smith is in the second spot with 891 points, while Root moves to no.3 spot with 883 points. Virat Kohli slipper to no.5 with 852 points and Labuschagne moved down to no.4 spot with 878 points to his name.

? Joe Root enters top three
? Babar Azam, Ben Stokes move up one spot
? Virat Kohli slips to No.5

A lot of changes in the latest @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Player Rankings for batting ?

Full rankings: https://t.co/OMjjVwOboH pic.twitter.com/TRwJwuRx88

— ICC (@ICC) February 10, 2021

James Anderson moves to no.3 spot in latest ICC Test bowling rankings

England pacer James Anderson’s brilliant showing in the first Test against India in Chennai led to him moving up to the third post in the latest ICC Test bowlers’ rankings. He picked a total of 5 wickets in Chennai with figures of 3/17 in the second innings as India was bowled out for 192 chasing 420 runs.

Before this Anderson had picked 6/40 against Sri Lanka at Galle and now has 611 wickets in 158 Tests. He is 8 wickets shy of India’s Anil Kumble’s 619 scalps and when he passes the Indian legend, will become the third-highest wicket-taker in Test history behind Shane Warne (708) and Muttiah Muralitharan (800).

Apart from these developments, India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah also moved up one spot to no.7 and no.8 respectively. While Ashwin picked 9 wickets in the Chennai Test, including 6/61 in these second innings, pacer Bumrah returned with 5 wickets in the Test match.

? Anderson moves up three spots to No.3
↗️ Ashwin, Bumrah climb up

Bowlers make significant gains in the latest update of the @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Player Rankings.

Full list: https://t.co/OMjjVwOboH pic.twitter.com/XELbZKy2jY

— ICC (@ICC) February 10, 2021

Also Read: India vs England 2021: “Virat Kohli Will Step Down From Captaincy If India Loses Second Test”, Says Monty Panesar