Former India skipper Virat Kohli climbed four spots to reach the ninth spot on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test batter rankings. Kohli was rewarded for his fighting knocks of 38 and 76 in a losing cause at the SuperSport Park, Centurion in the Boxing Day Test.
Kohli slipped out of the top 10 in 2022 as he went through a rough patch. A half-century in the second innings while Indian batting crumbled against the Proteas pacers brought him back in the top 10. Now, he has 761 rating points. He has a chance to move up in the rankings with the Cape Town Test followed by England's tour of India which will include five Tests.
The first spot is occupied by Kane Williamson (864 rating points) followed by England's Joe Root (859 rating points) and Australia's Steve Smith (820 rating points). New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell moved up two places to no.4.
Australian opener Usman Khawaja and former Pakistan captain Babar Azam slipped one place each. In the MCG Test Khawaja missed a half-century in the first innings followed by a two-ball duck. On the other hand, Azam followed up a single-digit score with a 41-run knock in the unsuccessful run chase.
Azam is followed by Australia's Marnus Labuschagne and England's Harry Brook. Both the batters moved up one spot as Travis Head slipped four places to the 10th position. Head failed to score a half-century in the first two Tests of the series against Pakistan. In the Melbourne Test, he registered scores of 17 and 0.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma slipped four positions to 14 as he became Kagiso Rabada's victim twice in the Centurion Test. South African opener Dean Elgar jumped 19 places after a match-winning 185 against the Rohit-led side. Elgar climbed to the 17th position.
India's wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul made huge gains as well. He moved up 11 spots to 51st after a century in the first innings of the Centurion Test.
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