Kohli moves up to 12th in rankings, Sangakkara back on top

Dubai, Jan 11 (CRICKETNMORE) Premier Indian batsman Virat Kohli Sunday moved up three places to the 12th spot, while Sri Lankan maestro Kumar Sangakarra returned to the top in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings.

Indian captain Kohli scored 147 and 46 in the recently concluded fourth Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) which helped him jump three places. Kohli has 774 points. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have been ranked 22nd and 23rd, respectively.

Sangakarra's knocks of 203 and five have seen him replace South African AB de Villiers at the top, where he is one point clear on 909 points.

Also, Australian captain Steven Smith has leapfrogged Sri Lankan skipper Angelo Mathews into a career-high fourth place after scores of 117 and 71.

New Zealand vice-captain Kane Williamson jumped seven places to a career-best ranking of seventh following his scores of 69 and 242 not out. In achieving his highest Test score to date, Williamson also passed the 3,000-run mark, reaching 3,034 runs in 39 Tests.

In the rankings for bowlers, New Zealander Trent Boult, who returned match figures of four for 130 runs to help his side to victory over Sri Lanka, improved his ranking by one place to sixth on 795 points, nine adrift of Australia’s Mitchell Johnson. 

India’s Mohammed Shami has risen seven places to a career-high 31st place after match figures of six for 145 runs, while Australia’s Mitchell Starc has moved up nine places to 33rd after claiming five wickets for 142 runs.

South African pace ace Dale Steyn still heads the bowling rankings and holds a commanding 79 points lead over second-placed Ryan Harris of Australia. 

Meanwhile, Australia’s Johnson has also dropped a spot and thus swaps places with England’s Stuart Broad in the all-rounders rankings, with the Australian left-arm speedster now lying in fifth spot. Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan remains the top ranked all-rounder.

(IANS)