ICC rankings: Virat Kohli maintains top spot, Steve Smith closes in

Smith has displaced Kane Williamson to occupy the second position among Test batsmen.

Run machine: Steve Smith has been in good form in the Ashes.

Steve Smith pipped Kane Williamson to second spot among Test batsmen in the latest ICC rankings released on Monday.

Virat Kohli, with 922 points, is on the top of the list while Smith, after his twin Ashes hundreds in Birmingham and a 92 at Lord’s, has 913 points. The other Indian in the top-10 is Cheteshwar Pujara, who stayed put at his fourth position.

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Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne made rapid strides, entering the top-10 at eighth with a jump of four ranking places. South Africa’s Aiden Markram also improved upon his ranking to be positioned sixth while England captain Joe Root paid for his slight slump in form to be at ninth.

Cummins entreched at the top

In the bowlers’ list, Pat Cummins remained firmly entrenched on top of the table while Ravindra Jadeja improved from sixth place to fifth. His spin bowling partner R. Ashwin remained 10th. Jadeja also remained third in the all-rounder’s list, which is led by West Indies’ Jason Holder, with Shakib Al Hasan placed second.

Meanwhile, a 1-0 defeat by the West Indies in its upcoming series will see India slip to 108 points and lose its top position among Test teams. That margin will be enough for the West Indies to overtake Pakistan to seventh position at 88 points.

As of now, India has 113 points, followed by New Zealand (111 points) and South Africa (108 points).