Virat Kohli jumps four places to 15th in ICC Test rankings for batsmen

Virat Kohli

Dubai, Dec 31 - Indian batsman Virat Kohli jumped four places to move up to 15th in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings released here on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Kohli rode on scores of 169 and 54 in the third Test against Australia. Another batsman who has benefitted most from the drawn Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) is Australia captain Steven Smith. The 25-year-old scored a Test-best 192 in the first innings to gain two places and claimed fifth spot for the first time.

Smith now trails No.1 ranked AB de Villiers, who has regained the top spot from Kumar Sangakkara, by 40 points.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who scored 195 against Sri Lanka in the first Test, has achieved a career-best 12th position by climbing two places.

Also moving upward are Australian Chris Rogers (24th, up by four places), Ajinkya Rahane (26th, up by 15 places), Kraigg Brathwaite (37th, up by 11 places), Marlon Samuels (37th, up by seven places) and Dean Elgar (50th, up by 13 places).

Dale Steyn stays No.1 in ICC rankings for bowlers

In the bowlers rankings, Australia's Ryan Harris has moved up two places to second, following his six wickets at the MCG while Trent Boult has achieved a best-ever ranking of seventh after rising two places. Boult had figures of three for 25 and four for 100 in the first Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Bowlers outside the top 20 and moving in the right direction include Neil Wagner (22nd, up by two places), Umesh Yadav (36th, up by eight places), Mohammad Shami (38th, up by eight places), Josh Hazlewood (53rd, up by 16 places) and Imran Tahir (58th, up by six places).

Dale Steyn has retained his number one ranking and is ahead of Harris by 54 ratings points.

There is no change to the top five in the rankings for all-rounders. Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan leads the field, followed by Vernon Philander of South Africa and India's Ravichandran Ashwin.

South Africa set to retain Test Championship mace

Meanwhile, South Africa are just a draw away from retaining the Test Championship mace and with it winning a cash award of $500,000. If South Africa draw the Cape Town Test and Australia win in Sydney, then South Africa will finish on 122 points, compared to Australia's 119 points.

However, if the West Indies win in Cape Town Test and Australia win in Sydney, then Australia will finish ahead of South Africa by a fraction of a point (0.2).

The side that will finish second will pocket $390,000 while England and Pakistan have been guaranteed $280,000 and $170,000 after sealing third and fourth positions, respectively, following the Christchurch Test result.

ICC Player Rankings

Batsmen

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	AB de Villiers	SA	893
2	Kumar Sangakkara	SL	891
3	Hashim Amla	SA	887
4	Angelo Mathews	SL	877
5	Steven Smith	AUS	853
6	Shivnarine Chanderpaul	WI	848
7	Younis Khan	PAK	818
8	David Warner	AUS	815
9	Joe Root	ENG	789
10	Misbah-ul-Haq	PAK	777

Bowlers

Rank	Player	Country	Rating
1	Dale Steyn	SA	906
2	Ryan Harris	AUS	851
3	Rangana Herath	SL	842
4	Vernon Philander	SA	822
5	Mitchell Johnson	AUS	812
6	James Anderson	ENG	806
7	Trent Boult	NZ	805
8	Stuart Broad	ENG	774
9	Tim Southee	NZ	767
10	Kemar Roach	WI	766