Kohli retains top spot in ICC Test rankings

Dubai: Indian skipper Virat Kohli retained his top spot among batsmen while the injured bowler Jasprit Bumrah slipped a rung to sixth in the latest ICC Test rankings issued on Monday.

Kohli (928 points) is 17 points clear of Australia's Steve Smith who scored 43 and 16 in the first Test against New Zealand which Australia won by 296 runs.

Cheteshwar Pujara (791) and Ajinkya Rahane (759) held on to their fourth and sixth spots respectively.

Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne continued his surge, entering the top five in the list of batsmen after scores of 143 and 50 in the Perth Test.

Labuschagne, who narrowly missed joining Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas and Mudassar Nazar in scoring at least 150 in three successive Test innings, has gained three slots to occupy fifth place.

He has overtaken compatriot David Warner and is the second-highest ranked Australia batsman after Steve Smith.

Pakistan batsman Babar Azam reached the top 10 for the first time, moving from 13th to ninth position after his unbeaten knock of 102 against Sri Lanka in the drwan first Test. He is currently No.1 in the T20I rankings and second in the



ODIs.

Opener Abid Ali's unbeaten 109, which made him the first male cricketer and only the second after former England woman opener Enid Bakewell to score centuries on both Test and ODI debuts, has entered the rankings at an impressive 78th position.

Among the bowlers, Bumrah, who has been out since the start of the home series against South Africa due to a stress fracture, slipped to the sixth spot in the list headed by Australia's Pat Cummins.

Neil Wagner's seven wickets against New Zealand helped him reclaim third position among bowlers with a career-best tally of 834 rating points. Tim Southee is back in the top 10 after his nine-wicket match haul.

Another Australian bowler Mitchell Starc's effort of 9/97 in the first Test has lifted him to a career-best fifth spot and career-best 806 rating points. Josh Hazlewood has moved from eighth to seventh position.

India's Ravindra Jadeja, meanwhile, remained at number 2 behind Jason Holder of the West Indies among Test all-rounders.

In the ICC World Test Championship, India stand on top with 360 points, way ahead of Australia (216), Sri Lanka (80), New Zealand (60) and England (56).