Dubai: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson moved up a rung Monday to join his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli at the second spot in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen. On the other hand, West Indies captain Jason Holder conceded his top ICC Test all-rounder’s ranking to England star Ben Stokes. This fall came after an unimpressive outing against New Zealand in the first Test which West Indies lost by an innings and 134 runs. Incidentally Kane Williamson scored a double hundred in the only innings the Kiwis batted.
Australia’s Steve Smith, with 911 points however, maintained his top spot. He will certainly have some more points to add to his tally when Australia face India in a four-Test series beginning December 17. Kohli, however, will miss three of the Tests as he wants to be with wife Anushka Sharma when she gives birth to their first child.
Chesteshwar Pujara remained seventh on the list ahead of Stokes (eighth) and England captain Joe Root (ninth) respectively, the ICC statement said. Ajinkya Rahane (11th) and Mayank Agarwal (12th) have both dropped a place each.
Holder bowled 31 wicket-less overs during New Zealand innings and had scores of 25 and 8. This poor show led to his slight slump in rankings. Stokes, with 446 points, is on top of the list while Holder with 434 is placed second. Ravindra Jadeja maintained his third position with 397 points. His teammate Ravichandran Ashwin dropped a place to be at sixth with 287 points.
Among bowlers, India’s Jasprit Bumrah stayed put at ninth position on the list while Ravichandran Ashwin gained a position to be 11th. Mohammed Shami (joint 13th), Ishant Sharma (17th) and Ravindra Jadeja (18th) are also in top 20.
India will play Australia in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy and will try and regain it after winning their first away series in 71 years.