ICC Test Rankings: Kane Williamson gains two places, joins Kohli at No. 2

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, who recently hit a career-best 251 against the West Indies in Hamilton, has moved up two places to be joint second with Indian skipper Virat Kohli in the latest ICC Test Player Rankings, which were updated on Monday (December 7).

With his match-winning double century, Williamson gained 74 points, taking his tally from 812 to 886. His 251 was the ninth-highest individual score in New Zealand’s Test history. His compatriot, Tom Latham, garnered his career-best points tally of 733 and 10th place on the table, thanks to his innings of 86.

Australia’s Steve Smith (911 rating points) continues to be on top of the table, while his compatriot Marnus Labuschagne (827) has dropped to fourth from second. The top five is complete with Pakistan captain Babar Azam (797).

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Apart from Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara is the only other Indian in the top 10 of the Test rankings. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is at 11th followed by opening batsman Mayank Agarwal. Both batsmen dropped one place each. Rohit Sharma is static at 16th.

In Test bowling rankings, Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins has retained his No 1 spot, while Kiwi Neil Wagner moved one place up to second. Wagner’s six wickets in Hamilton edged him ahead of England’s Stuart Broad, equalling his career-best position, which he first achieved back in December 2019.

Jasprit Bumrah is the highest ranked Indian at ninth position. Ravichandran Ashwin moved up one place to 11th, while Mohammed Shami (joint 13th), Ishant Sharma (17) and Ravindra Jadeja (18) are the other Indians in the top 20.

West Indies captain Jason Holder dropped from fifth to seventh having not taken any wickets in Hamilton.

In the Test all-rounder table, Holder (434 points) has lost the top spot to England’s Ben Stokes. He was top by one point from Stokes, but the Englishman (446) now has a twelve-point advantage. Stokes briefly held the top spot during the summer, snatching it from Holder after the second Test with the West Indies, before Holder reclaimed it.

Jadeja retained his third spot with 397 points, while Ashwin dropped one place to sixth with 281 points.

From December 17, India and Australia will be involved in four Tests for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The series opener is a day/night contest in Adelaide.