Virat Kohli surpasses Brian Lara, inches closer to Sunil Gavaskar on ICC all-time list

Virat Kohli is just four points from becoming the highest placed Indian in the all-time list. (Source: AP)

Virat Kohli’s performance in the final Test against South Africa has led him to reaching 912 points on the ICC Test Rankings for Batsmen. He remains second on the rankings but his tally is now higher than Brian Lara and is now 26th on the all-time list and is merely two rating points behind Sunil Gavaskar, who is the highest placed Indian on the list. Gavaskar had peaked at 916 points in a Test match against England at the Oval in 1979. Kohli moved from 31st to 26th on the all-time list and in doing so, he leapfrogged Kevin Pietersen, Hashim Amla, Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara. Top-ranked Steve Smith, with 947 points, is second on the all-time list, only behind Sir Don Bradman.

Kohli was the top scorer in the recently concluded series that India lost 2-1. He made a total of 286 runs in the three Tests and has been the only player to manage a century. He did so in the first innings of the second Test in which he was the last man to be dismissed and scored 153 runs. The third Test at Wanderers was one in which batsmen struggled to score runs at all and Kohli scored 54 and 41. They proved to be valuable runs as India went on to win that match.

Jasprit Bumrah, who made his Test debut in this series and picked a fifer in the third match, is ranked 46th while Bhuvneshwar Kumar entered the top 20 for the first time in his career. He was vital for India in the first and third Tests and is on 20th position due to his performances. Mohammed Shami has moved to 17th spot. Ravindra Jadeja, despite not featuring in a single match, remains third while Ravichandran Ashwin is fifth.