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Virat Kohli jumps past Steve Smith to become the 7th Indian to become the No.1 ranked Test batsman

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Virat Kohli jumps past Steve Smith to become the seventh Indian to become the No.1 Test batsman in the world.

Player of the match Sam Curran on the charge in batsmen, bowlers and all-rounders’ rankings

Virat Kohli has achieved another personal milestone by becoming the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, which were released on Sunday morning following the conclusion of the Edgbaston Test.

Kohli scored 149 and 51 in India’s 31-run defeat and has gone up by 31 points, which have helped him to end Steve Smith’s 32-month reign as the top-ranked batsman and reach the top of the summit for the first time in his 67-Test career.

Kohli now leads Smith (who had held the top spot since December 2015) by five points, but will have to maintain the form in the remaining four Tests to finish the series as the world’s highest-ranked batsman.

Tendulkar had joined South Africa’s Jacques Kallis in number-one position in January 2011, but had dropped to second spot following the Jamaica Test in June 2011 after he had missed the three-Test series against the West Indies.

Apart from Kohli and Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Dilip Vengsarkar are the other India batsmen to have achieved number-one rankings during their careers.

However, at 934 points, Kohli has become India’s highest-ranked batsman, 14th overall, on the all-time tally of points. Kohli had entered the Edgbaston Test on 903 points, 13 points behind Gavaskar, and is now ahead of the ICC Cricket Hall of Famer by 18 points.

If Kohli can deliver another strong performance in the second Test at Lord’s, then he can break into the top-10 by leapfrogging Matthew Hayden, Kallis and AB de Villiers, whose highest points tally was 935 each. Donald Bradman (961) and Steve Smith (947) are the two batsmen sitting on top of this exclusive list.

Kohli, who powered India to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup title in 2008 and then won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year in 2017, is the 76th player to top the Test batting rankings. He is also the number-one ranked ODI batsman, but is ranked 12th in T20Is, 220 points behind number-one ranked Aaron Finch of Australia.

England’s 20-year-old Sam Curran is another fascinating story from what was a nerve-wracking 1000th England men’s Test.

Sam Curran had an outstanding Test match and moved up on all the tables

The left-handed all-rounder scored 24 and 63 with the bat, and claimed match figures of five for 92 with the ball, which not only earned him the player of the match award but significant gains in the latest rankings.

In the batting table, Curran has jumped from 152nd to 72nd, the bowling table has seen him rise 49 places to 62nd, while in the all-rounders’ category, he now sits in 37th position after jumping 58 places.

England’s wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow is the other England player to improve his ranking. The Yorkshireman now shares 12th position with the West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite after moving up four places.

The batsmen to lose ground after the Edgbaston Test include Alistair Cook 17th (down by four places), Lokesh Rahul 19th (down by one place), Ajinkya Rahane 22nd(down by three places), Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, who now share 25th position after slipping two and one spots, respectively, and Ben Stokes 33rd (down by five places).

In the bowlers’ table, Stuart Broad and Mohammed Shami are the two bowlers inside the top-20 who have headed in the opposite direction, while James Anderson has retained his top position but his lead over Kagiso Rabada has been reduced to two points.

Broad is now ranked 13th after falling one place, while Shami is in 19th spot after sliding two places.

Stokes has compensated for his double failure with the bat by taking six wickets in the Test, including three of India’s last four wickets. For this performance, he has been rewarded with a rise of four places, which has put him in 27th position.

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has gained 14 points following his four for 62 and three for 59, which means he now trails South Africa’s fourth-ranked Vernon Philander by just one point, while Ishant Sharma has collected 19 points to move within 13 points of 25th-ranked team-mate Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

The Test player rankings will now be updated following the Lord’s Test, which begins on Thursday, 9 August.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 5 August, following Edgbaston Test)

BATSMEN (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating

1 (+1) Virat Kohli Ind 934! 54.28 934 v Eng at Edgbaston 2018
2 (-1) Steve Smith Aus 929 61.37 947 v SA at Durban 2018
3 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 865 52.18 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
4 ( - ) Kane Williamson NZ 847 50.35 893 v Aus at Perth 2015
5 ( - ) David Warner Aus 820 48.20 880 v NZ at Perth 2015
6 ( - ) C. Pujara Ind 791 50.34 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
7 ( - ) D. Karunaratne SL 754! 37.28 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
8 ( - ) D. Chandimal SL 733 44.96 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018
9 ( - ) Dean Elgar SA 724 41.05 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
10 ( - ) Aiden Markram SA 703* 47.27 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018
11 ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 697 47.22 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013
12=( - ) Kraigg Brathwaite Win 695 37.94 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017
(+4) Jonny Bairstow Eng 695 38.64 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017
14 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 673 47.23 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013
15 ( - ) Azhar Ali Pak 672 44.84 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016
16 (+1) Faf du Plessis SA 665 42.33 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018
17 (-4) Alastair Cook Eng 658 45.36 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012
18 (+2) Kusal Mendis SL 641 36.78 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018
19 (-1) Lokesh Rahul Ind 634 39.20 761 v SL at Pallekele 2017
20 (+1) Usman Khawaja Aus 633 42.00 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017

BOWLERS (top 20)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 884 27.19 896 v Win at Lord's 2017
2 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 882 21.71 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
3 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 857 23.11 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017
4 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 826 21.54 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013
5 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 825 25.17 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
6 ( - ) Pat Cummins Aus 800*! 23.81 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
7 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 795 27.84 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
8 ( - ) Rangana Herath SL 791 27.95 867 v Zim at Harare 2016
9 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 765 28.26 785 v Win at Wellington 2017
10 ( - ) Josh Hazlewood Aus 759 26.84 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017
11 ( - ) Shannon Gabriel Win 757! 29.57 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
12 (+1) Jason Holder Win 731*! 29.35 731 v Ban at Jamaica 2018
13 (-1) Stuart Broad Eng 730 28.95 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016
14=( - ) Tim Southee NZ 720 30.82 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014
( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 720 28.17 805 v SA at Durban 2018
16 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 710 32.21 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017
17 (+1) Keshav Maharaj SA 692* 27.65 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017
18 (+1) Yasir Shah Pak 683 29.44 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016
19 (-2) M. Shami Ind 680 29.04 703 v SA at Johannesburg 2018
20 ( - ) Kemar Roach Win 667 28.31 774 v SA at Centurion 2014

ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Points Highest Rating

1 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 420 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
2 ( - ) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 385 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
3 ( - ) Vernon Philander SA 370 379 v SL at Galle 2018
4 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 359 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016
5 ( - ) Jason Holder Win 354/* 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

!indicates career-highest rating
 
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Well deserved Champ. Kudos!! We are lucky to have a Once in a Lifetime Player like Kohli.
 
It is a shame this happened in the absence of Steve Smith who is the greatest test batsman and the second greatest test player of this generation after R Ashwin.

Nonetheless a proud achievement. 4 years ago your Bhaijaan honestly thought 45sh test average was Kohli's ceiling but full credit to him for turning things around in this dramatic fashion. Look at his all time rating also. 934 is monstrous display of form! He is chasing 947 lets see if he breaches that barrier.
 
How is Pujara at #6 anyway? Are there only 5 guys better than him.

And when did Jadeja last play a test?
 
Easily 2nd best Test batsmen of this generation.An all condition batsmen as well.
 
Well deserved . It was only a matter of time. He is getting better and better in tests. He has performed in most conditions.
 
This should also keep the guys who said he is not Test class quite now. The best batsman in World, across all formats, crazy stuff if you really ponder over it.
 
Smith had been #1 for three years and if Kohli could repeat that, India would have done well in this cycle of overseas tours. Of course, if the entire batting line up bar him folded like what they did in BHAM then God bless India!
 
He is cashing in against aged Anderson, nothing else. Opinion of certain fans.
 
No.1 right now without a doubt. Needs a good series to stay there, Root could have a sniff at the top spot if he performs well to. 2 horse race between these two with Smith gone and quiet frankly we don't know if he will ever be the same again when he returns.
 
Varun said:
How is Pujara at #6 anyway? Are there only 5 guys better than him.

And when did Jadeja last play a test?
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Fair hypothesis. Let’s see the results: India lose the first test and crashed and burned in the process. Small sample size but India can’t play a B team and beat England in England.
 
His progress in Test cricket has been special.

The best and most well-rounded batsman on the planet.
 
Rahul1 said:
Dravid is a bonafide ATG.
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Dravid has a poor record in both Sri Lanka and South Africa for an ATG. His average of 33 and 29 after significant number for games is less than ordinary. He is surely a great but not in the Gavaskar, Tendulkar bracket for India.
 
Rahul1 said:
Dravid is a bonafide ATG.
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He's better than the likes of Ganguly but in the league of Sehwag.

Sehwag had better attacking ability and was the single most destructive opener of his time with the ability to take the game away from you single-handingly.

Dravid was the exact opposite with compact defense and technique and scored tough runs. By tough runs, I mean that the opposition has India at 2-25 trailing by 100 and he comes out with a grinding 50+.

Sehwag would be ranked higher than Dravid had he scored a little better overseas and had something called footwork.

Gavaskar- The original Little Master and the first to score 10,000 runs

Tendulkar- The most complete batsman with almost every record mentionable and remarkable longevity

Kohli- Rediefined successful chasing and the first batsman to be as consistent across all three formats. He's also responsible for the change in the Indian approach and I see a lot of young Indians no longer being the meek acha-bachas of the past. (Something that PAK has suffered under the likes of Misbah and Azhar).
 
Rahul1 said:
Dravid is a bonafide ATG.
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Nope, not with an average of 29 in SA and in the thirties in SL and definitely poor in Aus when McGrath and Warne were playing. Heck he averages 10 vs McGrath and he has gotten him out for a duck thrice.

Make no mistake, Dravid is a great batsman of his era. Played mind blowing knocks in WI and England, but to be in the bracket of Sachin and Gavaskar, I would think he needed to do more!
 
Fantastic achievement and he has answered his critics in only his first Test in this series. Hopefully he does not fade away and scores more hundreds on this tour.
 
EliteCynical said:
Nope, not with an average of 29 in SA and in the thirties in SL and definitely poor in Aus when McGrath and Warne were playing. Heck he averages 10 vs McGrath and he has gotten him out for a duck thrice.

Make no mistake, Dravid is a great batsman of his era. Played mind blowing knocks in WI and England, but to be in the bracket of Sachin and Gavaskar, I would think he needed to do more!
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giri26 said:
Dravid has a poor record in both Sri Lanka and South Africa for an ATG. His average of 33 and 29 after significant number for games is less than ordinary. He is surely a great but not in the Gavaskar, Tendulkar bracket for India.
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Waqar averages 34 against Australia and 48 against India.

Lara averages 33 in India and 36 in New Zealand.

So Lara and Waqar are not ATGs either i suppose.
 
Rahul1 said:
Waqar averages 34 against Australia and 48 against India.

Lara averages 33 in India and 36 in New Zealand.

So Lara and Waqar are not ATGs either i suppose.
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Rahul never had the performances against AUS (the best team of his era) that Lara had.

At his peak, Lara single handingly tied the 1999 Frank Worrell Trophy.

Waqar is not a Test ATG.
 
ManFan said:
Rahul never had the performances against AUS (the best team of his era) that Lara had.

At his peak, Lara single handingly tied the 1999 Frank Worrell Trophy.

Waqar is not a Test ATG.
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Absolutely
 
If players like Dravid are all time greats then Javed Miandad and Younis Khan are also all time greats.

Javed worst avgs are 33.75 in WI and 38.07 in Aus
Younis Worst avg is 32.60 in SA

In other top countries they avg 45+.
 
Rahul1 said:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...lia-2nd-test-australia-tour-of-india-2000-01/

http://www.espncricinfo.com/series/...dia-2nd-test-india-tour-of-australia-2003-04/
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Lara averages 58 against Australia in Australia. Compare that with Dravid.

Furthermore, Lara averaged 63 against Australia and has 9 half-centuries and six centuries against them. Out of the six, four are in Australia and two of them are double centuries, including his very last knock against them!
 
Well deserved, what a player this man is! Would have been interesting if Smith was still an active player
 
ManFan said:
Lara averages 58 against Australia in Australia. Compare that with Dravid.

Furthermore, Lara averaged 63 against Australia and has 9 half-centuries and six centuries against them. Out of the six, four are in Australia and two of them are double centuries, including his very last knock against them!
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But he was talking about lara's avg in india and nz, different players have different bogie countries.
 
Good for Kohli but he never would've reached it if Smith didn't sell his soul to the devil and hadn't been banned for a year. Gutted for Smith but good for Kohli. Here's hoping that Smith uses this as inspiration after his comeback and reaches the number 1 ranking again.
 
AssassinatedDevil said:
Good for Kohli but he never would've reached it if Smith didn't sell his soul to the devil and hadn't been banned for a year. Gutted for Smith but good for Kohli. Here's hoping that Smith uses this as inspiration after his comeback and reaches the number 1 ranking again.
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It's not Kohli's fault that Smith got banned, is it?
 
Darkrai said:
If players like Dravid are all time greats then Javed Miandad and Younis Khan are also all time greats.

Javed worst avgs are 33.75 in WI and 38.07 in Aus
Younis Worst avg is 32.60 in SA

In other top countries they avg 45+.
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What do you mean by players "like" Dravid?
 
Rahul1 said:
It's not Kohli's fault that Smith got banned, is it?
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It's not his fault that Smith got banned, just like how it's not his fault that he got dropped early on in the innings, but these things can't just be ignored. He doesn't exist in a vaccum.
 
ManFan said:
They have had only three undisputed ATG’s.

Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Kohli.

The rest are great but not above and beyond.
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That is true.

India - 3 Undisputed batting ATGs with Dravid at borderline

Pakistan - 0 undusputed batting ATGs with Miandad at borderline

.
 
AssassinatedDevil said:
Good for Kohli but he never would've reached it if Smith didn't sell his soul to the devil and hadn't been banned for a year. Gutted for Smith but good for Kohli. Here's hoping that Smith uses this as inspiration after his comeback and reaches the number 1 ranking again.
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I think this was Kohli’s first test after Smith got banned, I may be wrong.
 
Not a match winner in tests. Stats can tell you he is a good batsman. Its true. But doesnt create much impact in test matches.
 
AssassinatedDevil said:
Good for Kohli but he never would've reached it if Smith didn't sell his soul to the devil and hadn't been banned for a year. Gutted for Smith but good for Kohli. Here's hoping that Smith uses this as inspiration after his comeback and reaches the number 1 ranking again.
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Australia have played only one Test after Smith got banned, and he wasn’t amongst the runs in that South African series anyway.

I don’t think him getting banned has anything to do with Kohli overtaking him as number one Test batsman.

However, it is unfortunate that Smith will not be able to compete for a year. The verdict was incredibly harsh.
 
giri26 said:
Dravid has a poor record in both Sri Lanka and South Africa for an ATG. His average of 33 and 29 after significant number for games is less than ordinary. He is surely a great but not in the Gavaskar, Tendulkar bracket for India.
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Is Kallis not a ATG batsman?Is Sangakkara not a ATG ?Is Lara not a ATG batsman?

Because they too avg in 30s in 2-3 countries.

Sobers avgd 15 in NZ and 32 in Pakistan.Not an ATG for you?

Yes Dravid isnt in Tendulkar Gavaskar bracket but then how many are?
 
Darkrai said:
If players like Dravid are all time greats then Javed Miandad and Younis Khan are also all time greats.

Javed worst avgs are 33.75 in WI and 38.07 in Aus
Younis Worst avg is 32.60 in SA

In other top countries they avg 45+.
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Younis Khan ATG?LOL.

Javed Miandad though is a borderline ATG.

Btw did you intentionally leave the avgs of Miandad vs SL and YK vs WI out of this?
 
jeeteshssaxena said:
But he was talking about lara's avg in india and nz, different players have different bogie countries.
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I was explaining to him why I rate Lara along with others more than Dravid.

Gavaskar is rated highly because of his centuries against the WI at a time when they were the best in the world.

Lara is rated very highly for the same reason and was often a one-man-army.
 
ManFan said:
I was explaining to him why I rate Lara along with others more than Dravid.

Gavaskar is rated highly because of his centuries against the WI at a time when they were the best in the world.

Lara is rated very highly for the same reason and was often a one-man-army.
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Not to mention his mastery against the two best spinners of his time, Murali and Warne.
 
AssassinatedDevil said:
Good for Kohli but he never would've reached it if Smith didn't sell his soul to the devil and hadn't been banned for a year. Gutted for Smith but good for Kohli. Here's hoping that Smith uses this as inspiration after his comeback and reaches the number 1 ranking again.
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Smith has only missed 1 Test, and that was a series where he struggled.

This is the 1st Test Kohli has played since Smith's ban.

Even if Smith wasn't banned, he would be #2 today.
 
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Besides, the only reason Kohli was rated behind Smith was his performance in England. Playing on Aussie battas has boosted Smith's average significantly, and that made him look better than he is.
 
Baring Kohli, rankings of other high ranked Indian players like Ashwin, jadeja, Pujara is only due to the monstrous number of home matches India has played in the last 2-3 years, where they have taken the idea of home pitch advantage (read doctoring) to an all together different level.
 
BlackShadow said:
Besides, the only reason Kohli was rated behind Smith was his performance in England. Playing on Aussie battas has boosted Smith's average significantly, and that made him look better than he is.
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Smith scored three hundreds in three matches against India in India where as Kohli scored four hundreds in four matches against Australia in Australia.

Where Smith topped Kohli was his unbelievable form at home against England whereas Kohli had a slight slump at home for the past year from his usually high standards.
 
BlackShadow said:
Besides, the only reason Kohli was rated behind Smith was his performance in England. Playing on Aussie battas has boosted Smith's average significantly, and that made him look better than he is.
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Kohli has scored 200's against all teams in india on flat highways. When it was rank turner pujara or rahane did way better than kohli. I still remember kohli averaging less than 50 last year and the way he scored 200's against poor srilankans being not out has boosted his avg as well.
 
cricketjoshila said:
LOL. The bias and hatred is dripping.
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He has nothing to show in terms of impact in important test series except that 1 SA series. He has failed to be a match winner for his team in tests. Sorry if it isnt something that you dont want to hear but its the fact. He is good test batsman. Thats about it. He is nowhere near Tendulkar, dravid, Ganguly, Laxman or even Sehwag in Tests. Perhaps he can reach the 3rd tier of Indian greats by the time he retires if he performs well.
 
Madplayer said:
He has nothing to show in terms of impact in important test series except that 1 SA series. He has failed to be a match winner for his team in tests. Sorry if it isnt something that you dont want to hear but its the fact. He is good test batsman. Thats about it. He is nowhere near Tendulkar, dravid, Ganguly, Laxman or even Sehwag in Tests. Perhaps he can reach the 3rd tier of Indian greats by the time he retires if he performs well.
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Do explain to the rest of us that how can one player can be a match winner in a game which is played with 11 players per side.
 
Madplayer said:
He has nothing to show in terms of impact in important test series except that 1 SA series. He has failed to be a match winner for his team in tests. Sorry if it isnt something that you dont want to hear but its the fact. He is good test batsman. Thats about it. He is nowhere near Tendulkar, dravid, Ganguly, Laxman or even Sehwag in Tests. Perhaps he can reach the 3rd tier of Indian greats by the time he retires if he performs well.
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Lol@ganguly being impact player in tests..😂😂
 
Madplayer said:
He has nothing to show in terms of impact in important test series except that 1 SA series. He has failed to be a match winner for his team in tests. Sorry if it isnt something that you dont want to hear but its the fact. He is good test batsman. Thats about it. He is nowhere near Tendulkar, dravid, Ganguly, Laxman or even Sehwag in Tests. Perhaps he can reach the 3rd tier of Indian greats by the time he retires if he performs well.
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How do you calculate impact? Whats the formula?

In a cricket match 11 players play and the win goes againist the team's name.

Kohli is near the top tier of Indian batting. Couple of more seasons of batting like this and he will be mentioned along with SRT.
 
Sam99 said:
Kohli has scored 200's against all teams in india on flat highways. When it was rank turner pujara or rahane did way better than kohli. I still remember kohli averaging less than 50 last year and the way he scored 200's against poor srilankans being not out has boosted his avg as well.
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Point stands. Almost all Tests in Australia are on flat highways, while India produces more turners than flat decks (which also aid reverse swing).

Two reasons why Smith was rated above Kohli were -

1) Kohli's English failures.
2) Smith's outstanding average.

Point 1 has been taken care of, while Smith's average will always be higher as long as he bullies attacks on Aussie tracks. If Kohli played his home matches in Australia too, he would be averaging 60+.
 
BlackShadow said:
Point stands. Almost all Tests in Australia are on flat highways, while India produces more turners than flat decks (which also aid reverse swing).

Two reasons why Smith was rated above Kohli were -

1) Kohli's English failures.
2) Smith's outstanding average.

Point 1 has been taken care of, while Smith's average will always be higher as long as he bullies attacks on Aussie tracks. If Kohli played his home matches in Australia too, he would be averaging 60+.
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Dude don't tell me india plays on all rank turners. Only 3 - 4 matches were rank turner in last 3 - 4 years. Most in south africa series and other in pune vs aus 2017. India is as easy to bat as aus is.

Talking about 1. Point If kohli has proved himself in england that doesn't mean smith hasn't? He has scored 500+ last time they went there and more importantly played two match winnings knocks too (one was double hundred).
 
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Rahul1 said:
Do explain to the rest of us that how can one player can be a match winner in a game which is played with 11 players per side.
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But according to most Indians their team is the best in the world. Few were even comparing it with 2000s Aus.
 
cricketjoshila said:
Younis Khan ATG?LOL.

Javed Miandad though is a borderline ATG.

Btw did you intentionally leave the avgs of Miandad vs SL and YK vs WI out of this?
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I was only checking the stats against top sides since that is what apparently determines if a player is ATG.
 
cricketjoshila said:
Is Kallis not a ATG batsman?Is Sangakkara not a ATG ?Is Lara not a ATG batsman?

Because they too avg in 30s in 2-3 countries.

Sobers avgd 15 in NZ and 32 in Pakistan.Not an ATG for you?

Yes Dravid isnt in Tendulkar Gavaskar bracket but then how many are?
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My point was that he is not in that bracket. I never said that Dravid isn't great. Some players are just special and Sachin and Sunny for India were that. Not many players could equal them, Virat has a chance now to do that.
 
Madplayer said:
He has nothing to show in terms of impact in important test series except that 1 SA series. He has failed to be a match winner for his team in tests. Sorry if it isnt something that you dont want to hear but its the fact. He is good test batsman. Thats about it. He is nowhere near Tendulkar, dravid, Ganguly, Laxman or even Sehwag in Tests. Perhaps he can reach the 3rd tier of Indian greats by the time he retires if he performs well.
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Lets criticize one player who is actually performing and ignoring other 10 players’ performances. Pathetic and shameless batsman. No one team deserves one like him.
 
kuskash said:
I think this was Kohli’s first test after Smith got banned, I may be wrong.
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Mamoon said:
Australia have played only one Test after Smith got banned, and he wasn’t amongst the runs in that South African series anyway.

I don’t think him getting banned has anything to do with Kohli overtaking him as number one Test batsman.

However, it is unfortunate that Smith will not be able to compete for a year. The verdict was incredibly harsh.
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BlackShadow said:
Smith has only missed 1 Test, and that was a series where he struggled.

This is the 1st Test Kohli has played since Smith's ban.

Even if Smith wasn't banned, he would be #2 today.
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BlackShadow said:
Besides, the only reason Kohli was rated behind Smith was his performance in England. Playing on Aussie battas has boosted Smith's average significantly, and that made him look better than he is.
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Kohli is just ahead of Smith by 5 points, which isn't much and had Smith played in the final test match, he would've closed that gap or went past it entirely. What's more sad is Smith won't be able to reach the number one ranking anytime soon because of his ban.

That said, Kohli deserves the ranking as he is the second best test batsman in the world after Smith. If the former number one is banned from playing for a year, then it makes sense that the second best player takes his spot.
 
cricketjoshila said:
How do you calculate impact? Whats the formula?

In a cricket match 11 players play and the win goes againist the team's name.

Kohli is near the top tier of Indian batting. Couple of more seasons of batting like this and he will be mentioned along with SRT.
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There is no formula for it obviously. Thats why the game is not played on paper. Thats why Brad pitt in the movie moneyball failed. You have to use your eyes and other senses as well to see whether a player is creating enough impact on a test match or not. For instance, Waugh, Flintoff, Gilchirst, Dravid, (especially that Australia tour), Younis khan etc have played lots and lots of impactful innings which we have seen with our eyes even if we dont look at stats. Kohli has a long way to go.
 
ManFan said:
That’s true.

Pakistan has not produced one bonafide ATG batsman.
Click to expand...

Playing Zim, WI would help boost stats but won't help produce superstars. Superstars come out of the toughest and fiercest competition. Not doubting Fakhar, Imam, Bobby's abilities but i see Pakistan not playing top teams enough as a big hurdle in the way of these players' growth. If soft runs helped Sangakkara would have been called the best of his generation but he's not even mentioned in discussions for obvious reasons.
 
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