Virat Kohli Becomes Seventh Indian to Achieve No.1 Position in ICC Test Rankings

After displaying a turn-on performance against England in the first Test at Edgbaston, the Indian skipper achieved another milestone in his cricketing career. Following the remarkable show in Birmingham, Kohli surpassed former Australian skipper to rule the roost in the latest ICC Test Rankings for batsmen.

The Delhi-based star batsman scored his maiden ton on English soil on August 2 (Thursday). He fought a one man’s battle against James Anderson and his company resulting his 22nd ton and 15th ton as a captain.

Adamant in approach, Kohli showed his faith in the Indian tail order as he added 94 runs as a joint partnership with Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma.

Virat Kohli replaces Steven Smith in ICC Test Rankings:

Talking about the milestone, Kohli has become the seventh Indian batsman and first since legendary Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011 – to top the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen.

Moreover, overtook Smith, who could not feature in the recent Test series due to his suspension from the Australian cricket. Smith was earlier banned for one year after he was termed as a chief plotter of ‘Sandpaper gate’ controversy during Cape Town Test.

Before the Edgbaston Test, Kohli had 903 points in Test rankings. However, after scoring 149 and 51 in the first innings and second innings respectively, he achieved another 31 points. He now has 934 rating points in ICC Test rankings to lead the ICC Test charts.

Interestingly, the modern-day star Kohli has gone past all-time rankings of many greats – Kevin Pietersen, Hashim Amla, Brian Lara, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Yousuf.

In the all-time rankings, Sir Don Bradman is leading the chart with 961 points followed by Steven Smith with 947 points.

Seventh Indian to achieve top brass:

Kohli is now the seventh Indian player who reached the top spot in ICC Test rankings.

Among them, Kohli made the top ranking with the highest points. He is having 934 points replacing Sunil Gavaskar who has 916 points way back in 1979.

The other six besides Virat Kohli are:

(1)Sunil Gavaskar
(2)Dilip Vengsarkar
(3) Sachin Tendulkar
(4)Rahul Dravid
(5) Virender Sehwag
(6)Gautam Gambhir