Virat Kohli ended 2019 as No.1 batsman in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings as the number 1 Test batsmen for the 2nd consecutive year. Kohli ended 2019 as the number one in Test cricket with a rating of 928. Steve Smith, Australia’s star batsman, finished with 911 points behind Kohli at the second spot.
Notably, after a brilliant run in Ashes 2019 — which was also his comeback series after spending a year away because of a ball-tampering suspension — Steve Smith had risen to the No. 1 spot.
Smith scored 774 runs on a remarkable average of 110.57 in four England matches during which he dethroned Virat Kohli.
Nonetheless, after his good run in the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh earlier this year, Virat Kohli had replaced Steve Smith as the No. 1 Test batsman.
Earlier this month, Kohli became the No. 1 batsman again after Steve Smith had a series of ordinary scores at home against Pakistan.
Steve Smith had the opportunity to close in on the gap as in the ongoing test series against New Zealand, the Australia batsman hasn’t lived up to his reputation. Smith managed only 151 runs at an average of 37.75 from 2 tests.
However, Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith from Australia are on the top of the run-scoring charts in 2019 in Tests. Although Labuschagne is the only batsman in the calendar year to have scored more than 1000 runs — 1104 in 11 matches, Smith managed 965 runs in just eight matches.
Virat Kohli, who is the top-scorer in 2019, amassed 612 runs from eight matches. While, 3 Indians, including Virat Kohli, ended the year among the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings. Although Cheteshwar Pujara slipped to fifth place, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane finished at seventh rank.
Beginning of the decade – No. 1: Gautam Gambhir, End of the decade – No. 1: Virat Kohli
It was an Indian batsman who at the beginning of the decade was at the top of the ICC Test batting charts— Gautam Gambhir with 877 points. As of January 1, 2010 — 4th with 805 points, Virender Sehwag was also in the top 10.
In the Boxing Day Test against England during Centurion, South Africa‘s wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock is the greatest mover as he jumped 8 slots into the top 10 following match-winning knocks.
Rankings of ICC Test (As of December 30, 2019)
- Virat Kohli
- Steve Smith
- Kane Williamson
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Babar Azam
- David Warner
- Ajinkya Rahane
- Joe Root
- Quinton de Kock
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