Virat Kohli jumps four places to be back in top 10 in latest ICC Test Rankings

Virat Kohli (Pic: AFP)

Talismanic batter Virat Kohli jumped four places to ninth in the latest ICC Test Rankings after his decent show in the Centurion Test against South Africa.

Kohli had dropped out of the top 10 in 2022, but his 38 and 76 in the opening Test against South Africa last week brought him back into that bracket, according to ICC.

However, he is 103 rating points away from leader Kane Williamson, while Joe Root and Steve Smith took the second and third place respectively.

India skipper Rohit Sharma dropped to 14th as he could only manage scores of five and zero in the Centurion.

Besides Kohli and Rohit, KL Rahul moved up 11 slots to 51st after scoring 101 and four in the series opener.

As for bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin remained on the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings, despite managing one for 41 in Centurion, while Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah were at fourth and fifth places respectively.

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Jadeja continued to lead the all-rounders' list, followed by Ashwin in the second place, while Shardul Thakur dropped to 34th.

India sits at the top spot in the team ranking, on 118 points, ahead of Australia and England.

The latest weekly update also considers performances in the second Test between Australia and Pakistan. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne has risen one spot to seventh after scoring a half-century in the first innings, while Alex Carey (up four places to 41st) and Mitchel Marsh (up 16 places to 52nd) have also risen.

Pakistan hitters Saud Shakeel (up one spot to 13th), Abdullah Shafique (up three spots to 21st), and Mohammed Rizwan (up four spots to 27th) advanced following the Melbourne Test, which Australia won by 79 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

With the bat, Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran jumped 14 spots to 33rd after a half-century earlier in the week.

(With agency inputs)