Virat Kohli drops out of top-10 Test rankings

Dubai, June 15 (IANS) A day after India dropped a place to be fourth in Test rankings, their captain Virat Kohli also slipped a position to be 11th in the batsman rankings of the five-day game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Monday.

Kohli, who made 14 runs in the rain-marred lone Test against Bangladesh that concluded on Sunday, has 755 points in the rankings that is topped by Steven Smith. The 26-year-old Australian, who was fourth last week, rode to the top following his knocks of 199 and 54 not out against the West Indies in the second Test which his side won.

Smith, who became the second youngest batsman after Sachin Tendulkar of India to achieve the number-one ranking, leapfrogged Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara. 

It has been a meteoric rise for Smith who, at 26 years and 12 days, is only a few months short of Tendulkar, who had topped the batting chart for the first time in 1999 at the age of 25 years and 279 days.

Left-hander Sangakkara is followed by South African AB de Villiers (third), Hashim Amla (fourth), Angelo Mathews (fifth), Younis Khan (sixth), Joe Root (seventh), Kana Williamson (eighth), Misbah-ul-Haq (ninth) and David Warner (10th).

However, Sangakkara will have a chance to reclaim his number one ranking when he features in the series against Pakistan, which starts in Galle on Wednesday.

India openers Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan have achieved career-best rankings to date. Vijay has moved up three places to 20th, while Dhawan has vaulted 15 places to 45th. Ajinkya Rahane is the other notable mover and despite missing out on a century, he has moved up four places to a career-high 22nd to date. 

In the bowlers’ chart, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shakib Al Hasan have gained one place each and are now 12th and 16th, respectively. South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn topped the bowling chart, followed by James Anderson at second