Kohli reaches 900 points in Test rankings

Dubai, Jan 18 - Virat Kohli has become the second Indian batsman after Sunil Gavaskar to reach the 900-point mark in the rankings for Test batsmen, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday.

Gavaskar had achieved the milestone in his 50th Test when he scored 13 and 221 at The Oval in 1979 to jump from 887 points to 916 points, which remained his career-best, according to an International Cricket Council (ICC) release.

Kohli, who recorded his 21st Test century during the second Test against South Africa at Centurion, achieved the rare feat in his 65th match in the five-day format after vaulting from 880 points to 900. 

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the other two India batsmen who came close to the 900-point mark, but were unable to break the barrier. Tendulkar peaked to 898 points in 2002, while Dravid achieved 892 points in 2005.

Kohli is only the 31st batsman in the history of Test cricket to reach 900 points. Don Bradman sits on top of the table with 961 points, followed by Steve Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Ricky Ponting and Jack Hobbs (both 942 points).

With this, Kohli has also leap-frogged England's Joe Root to the second position in the rankings for Test batsmen with Smith at the top spot.

Other batsmen inside the top 20 to head in the right direction are South Africa's trio of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis and Dean Elgar, while batsmen to head in the opposite direction include Cheteshwar Pujara, Lokesh Rahul and Quinton de Kock.

Pujara has slipped one place to sixth, Lokesh Rahul has fallen six places to 18th and de Kock is 20th after plummeting five places.

In the bowlers' chart, pacer Kagiso Rabada's reign as the number-one ranked Test bowler has lasted just one Test as he has slipped behind James Anderson following an ordinary performance by his high standards. 

Ravichandran Ashwin and Vernon Philander were the other bowlers inside the top 10 to slip, going down one position each. Ashwin is now fifth, while Philander is seventh.

However, India fast bowler Mohammad Shami has achieved a career-high ranking of 17th after taking five wickets in the match.

There is no change in the top five all-rounders and Shakib Al Hasan continues to lead the field by a distance. Ravindra Jadeja is second, followed by Ashwin, Ben Stokes and Philander. 

IANS