India captain Virat Kohli became the seventh batsman from his country and the first since Sachin Tendulkar in 2011 to top the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings, according to the list released on Sunday.
Kohli leapfrogged banned Australian batsman Steve Smith following the remarkable performance in the recently-concluded first Test against England which ended in an agonizing defeat for his team.
The 29-year-old smashed his maiden Test century in England (149) in the first innings and followed it up with a half-century (510) in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test.
The Delhi batsman now leads Smith, who has not played international cricket since March 2018, by five points at 934, which is also his career-best ratings. The former Australian captain had held the top spot for the last 32 months.
Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag and Dilip Vengsarkar are the other India batsmen apart from Kohli and Tendulkar to reach the top of ICC Test batting charts.
Kohli closing in on top 10 of best-ever Test Championships rating
With 934 points, Kohli is now 14th on the list of batsmen with best-ever Test Championship rating.
Legendary batsman Sir Donald Bradman leads the list with 961 points while Smith is second with 947 points.
His tally is the second-highest rating achieved by an Asian in the history of Test cricket. Kumar Sangakkara tops the continental list with 938 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, an ICC release states.
Pujara, Ashwin, and Jadeja retain ranking spots
Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara, who was dropped for the Edgbaston Test, has retained his sixth spot while England captain Joe Root, who missed out on a ton in the said Test, has retained the third spot.
Lokesh Rahul is the only other Indian batsman apart from Kohli and Pujara to find a place in the top 20 (19).
R Ashwin, who impressed in Edgbaston by picking up seven wickets over two innings, is fifth on the bowler's charts while Ravindra Jadeja, who did not find a place in the playing XI, is sitting on the third spot.
England's James Anderson continues to lead the bowler's rankings.
Jadeja and Ashwin have retained their second and fourth spots in the all-rounder's rankings, respectively.
ICC Test batting rankings (Top 10 - As of August 5, 2018)
- Virat Kohli (IND) - 934
- Steve Smith (AUS) - 929
- Joe Root (ENG) - 865
- Kane Williamson (NZ) - 847
- David Warner (AUS) - 820
- Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) - 791
- Dimuth Karunaratne (SL) - 754
- Dinesh Chandimal (SL) - 733
- Dean Elgar (SA) - 724
- Aiden Markram (SA) - 703
