Indian captain Virat Kohli, after a dismal outing in the Wellington test, lost few points in the latest ICC Test rankings. As a result, Australian Steve Smith, with his Bradmanesque numbers, dethroned King Kohli from the number one spot.
The Indian skipper received a considerable amount of flak for not being able to notch up a three-figure score in his last 20 innings. He has had a forgettable 2020 in all formats of the game, thus far.
Kohli now remains five points behind Smith’s tally of 911 points, at 906. His last notable inning in Tests came against Bangladesh during the Pink Test in Eden Gardens, where he scored 136.
After a long-lay off due to injury and his solitary wicket in the Wellington Test, India’s premier pace bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, dropped out of the top 10 rankings. Bumrah also remained wicketless throughout the ODI series against New Zealand.
Furthermore, Bumrah’s form also came under the scanner after the Kiwi batsmen took him for plenty in the T20I matches.
As far as the Indian bowlers are concerned, Ravichandran Ashwin is the only bowler now to remain in the top 10 charts, with him occupying the 9th position.
New Zealand’s skipper, Kane Williamson, replaces Marnus Labuschagne for the third spot in the rankings chart, after the stellar show with the bat against India at Wellington, with his 89.
However, the silver lining for the Indian team is that four out of the top 10 test batsmen belong to them. Apart from Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is at the 8th place, while Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal occupy the 9th and 10th positions respectively.
Agarwal was the only Indian batsman who was able to impress during India’s second outing with the bat at Wellington, where he scored a fluent 53.
