Williamson joins Kohli at No. 2 in Test rankings for batsmen

Australia’s Steve Smith, with 911 points, kept his hold on the pole position in the batting charts ahead of Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson.

Captains Virat Kohli of India and Kane Williamson of New Zealand (L-R) look on at the end of day three of the Second Test match between New Zealand and India at Hagley Oval on March 02, 2020.

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on Monday moved up a rung 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 after an unimpressive outing against New Zealand in the first Test which his team lost by an innings and 134 runs.

Australia’s Steve Smith, with 911 points, kept his hold on the pole position in the batting charts ahead of Kohli and Williamson, who hit a match-winning double hundred against the West Indies in Hamilton.

India’s Chesteshwar Pujara remained seventh on the list ahead of Stokes (8th) and England captain Joe Root (9th) respectively, the ICC said in a statement.

New Zealand opener Tom Latham entered the top-10 at the 10th position.

Ajinkya Rahane (11th) and Mayank Agarwal (12th) have both dropped a place each.

Holder bowled 31 wicketless overs during New Zealand innings and had scores of 25 and 8, which led to his slight slump in rankings. Stokes, with 446 points, is on top of the list while Holder with 434 is placed second.

India’s 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 starting in Adelaide from December 17.