Rishabh Pant Surpasses Virat Kohli in ICC Test Rankings

Rishabh Pant Surpasses Virat Kohli in ICC Test Rankings

Rishabh Pant’s stellar performance in the second innings of the opening Test against New Zealand has propelled him to the sixth spot in the ICC Test rankings for batters, surpassing his illustrious teammate Virat Kohli. Pant’s counter-attacking 99 earned him a three-spot jump, while Kohli’s fluent 70 saw him drop to eighth.

India’s highest-ranked batter remains opener Yashasvi Jaiswal at fourth, while captain Rohit Sharma slipped two places to joint 15th alongside Sri Lanka’s Dimuth Karunaratne. England’s Joe Root continues to dominate the rankings at the top.

New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway made significant gains in the batters’ rankings, climbing 36 and 12 spots to 18th and 36th respectively. Matt Henry emerged as the standout performer in the bowlers’ category, rising two rungs to ninth with a new career-high rating.

Henry’s eight wickets in New Zealand’s drought-breaking victory over India in Bengaluru earned him the recognition, while teammate Will O’Rourke also moved up two spots to 39th for his seven scalps in the same match.

Pakistan spinner Noman Ali re-entered the rankings at 17th after claiming 11 wickets across two innings against England. His teammate Sajid Khan jumped 22 places to 50th after being named Player of the Match in the same contest.

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah remains atop the bowlers’ rankings, followed by teammate R Ashwin. Ravindra Jadeja, retaining the seventh spot, is another Indian in the top 10.