How Virat Kohli can become the No. 1 ranked Test batsman

Here is how Indian Captain Virat Kohli can become the No. 1 ranked Test batsman during the course of the five-match Test series between Indian and England.

Virat Kohli is currently on the second spot in the ICC Test batsmen ranking with 903 points. This is a substantial 26 point deficit when compared with the incumbent No 1 ranked former Aussie Captain Steve Smith.

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However, the advantage for Kohli is that Smith would be away from competitive cricket for another 8 Tests as part of his one year suspension. As per ICC rules, one point is deducted for each match that a player misses.

 

With Smith set to miss another 8 points, Kohli can certainly topple him from the top spot if he puts up a good show in England. English pacer James Anderson has also recently overtaken Kagiso Rabada to become the No 1 ranked Test bowler.

If Kohli does achieve the feat, it would be the battle between the best, like literally.

Indian squad for the first 3 Tests

Virat Kohli(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami

English squad for the 1st Test

Joe Root(c), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, James Porter