Virat Kohli Soars Past Babar Azam In ICC Test Batting Rankings

image-lr6mnmvyVirat Kohli (AP)

Virat Kohli blazed his way to number six on the latest ICC Test Rankings for batsmen. The modern-day legend recently returned to Test lore with India’s two-match tour of South Africa, where he emerged as the highest run-scorer of his country with 172 of them across four testing innings.

With his latest hike in ICC Test rankings, the cricketer surpassed Pakistan veteran Babar Azam as well as England’s ‘BazBall’ radical Harry Brook.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma gain big in ICC rankings

Virat Kohli punched out scores of 38 and 76 against South Africa at Centurion, and followed it up with a match-winning 46 in the subsequent decider at Cape Town to finish the series with 172 runs. Kohli’s blistering run-of-form on testing South African surfaces catapulted him from number nine to number six on the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.

While Kohli gained three rungs on the latest ICC charts, his Pakistani counterpart Babar Azam lost two in the process as the former ‘Men in Green’ skipper managed just 126 runs in six innings against Australia ‘Down Under’.

Kane Williamson continues to lead the rankings with 864 rating points, and he is closely followed by English Test legend Joe Root (859 points) at number two. Australian batting twins Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne and New Zealand star Daryl Mitchell occupy the subsequent three slots respectively to constitute the top five list of highest-ranking contemporary batsmen.

Virat Kohli’s teammate and captain Rohit Sharma gained the most in the latest ranking-shuffle as the legendary opener blitzed to number 10 on the list. The cricketer jumped four steps to force his way into the top 10.

Both Kohli and Sharma can enhance their rankings further through India’s upcoming five-match Test series at home against England. The first of the five Tests will commence on January 25 in Hyderabad.