Kohli moves ahead of Lara, closes gap on Gavaskar

Jan.28 (CRICKETNMORE) - ICC Cricketer of the Year 2017 Virat Kohli has moved ahead of ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Brian Lara in the all-time list of batsmen with highest-ever ranking points in the latest ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were updated today following the conclusion of the Johannesburg Test.

Second-ranked Kohli had started the third and final Test on 900 points and earned 12 points following contributions of 54 and 41 in his side’s 63 runs victory. This means he is now on 912 points and in 26th position on the 31-batsman list, which is headed by Don Bradman (961 points).

Number-one ranked Steve Smith of Australia is second on the all-time list with 947 points.

Kohli, while moving from 31st to 26th position, has leapfrogged Lara (911), Kevin Pietersen (909), Hashim Amla (907), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (901) and Michael Clarke (900).

Kohli now has his compatriot and ICC Cricket Hall of Famer Sunil Gavaskar firmly within his sights, who had achieved 916 points following The Oval Test against England in 1979. Kohli will now aim to gain five points and move ahead of Gavaskar either in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June or during the five-Test series against England in August/September.

ICC Media Release