Virat Kohli had a greater outing with the bat than Steve Smith even as Australia beat India in Adelaide.© AFP
Despite India’s defeat to Australia in the initial Test in Adelaide, Virat Kohli’s initial innings knock of 74 helped him close the gap to Steve Smith at the prime of the ICC Test rankings for batsmen. Steve Smith was dismissed for just one particular run in Australia’s initial innings, even though he stayed unbeaten on the very same score in their second outing with the bat. The former Australia captain lost 10 points, even though Kohli — who prime-scored in the Test — gained two points, as the gap in between the two prime-ranked batsmen fell from 25 to 13 points.
While Smith is nevertheless perched atop the batting charts with 911 points, Kohli now has 888 points. However, Smith may well extend his lead additional through the series, with Kohli set to miss the remaining 3 matches due to his paternity leave.
Marnus Labuschagne’s 47 and 6 saw him attain his profession-ideal 839 points, but he stays behind New Zealand’s Kane Williamson at fourth location.
Cheteshwar Pujara, in spite of his patient 43 in the initial innings, dropped a spot to go 8th in the rankings, with England all-rounder Ben Stokes overtaking him.
Australia captain Tim Paine’s unbeaten innings of 73, which saw him win the Player of the Match award in Adelaide, lifted him to a profession-ideal of 33rd location with 592 points.
Pat Cummins, meanwhile, extended his lead atop the bowling charts just after taking seven wickets in the match. He moved from 904 points to 910, with a 65-point lead more than second placed Stuart Broad.
Josh Hazlewood’s 5-wicket haul in the second innings saw him rise 4 areas to the 5th spot, even though Ravichandran Ashwin moved up by one particular spot to 9th in the bowling charts.