Virat Kohli is making giant strides in the Test arena, especially with his overseas performances, blowing away oppositions with his grit, determination and sublime skill.
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The Indian captain scored 202 runs in the recently concluded test against England, almost taking his side to victory.
However, he lacked the support from his other batting colleagues and hence India fell short by 31 runs.
Kohli seemed devastated and emotionally exhausted after the game, however, his rise to the top of the ICC Test batting rankings should provide him some solace.
KOHLI IS NO.1@imVkohli has overtaken Steve Smith to become the new No.1 batsman in @MRFWorldwide ICC Test Rankings.
He is the first Indian since @sachin_rt to get there.
READ ⬇️https://t.co/Hw7OCimIKw pic.twitter.com/s8h4fNmJYK
— ICC (@ICC) August 5, 2018
His significant contribution during the Edgbaston test caused him to gain 31 ranking points, hence displacing the incumbent Steve Smith off the top of the charts.
Steve Smith had held the top spot since December 2015.
Virat Kohli also became the first Indian player since Sachin Tendulkar to hold the top spot in the ICC Test batsmen rankings.
Apart from these two stalwarts of Indian batting, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Gautam Gambhir have held the number 1 spot at sometime in their career.
Kohli currently has 934 ranking points, highest for any Indian.
Cheteshwara Pujara is the only other Indian batsman in the top 10, occupying the 6th spot.
KL Rahul is in the 19th spot, Rahane 22nd, Vijay and Dhawan 25th.
Amongst the Indian bowlers, only Jadeja and Ashwin find a spot in the top 10.
Ravichandran Ashwin has actually gained 14 points after his impressive performance in the Edgbaston test.
