Virat Kohli has now gone down to third with England captain Joe Root replacing him in the second spot. (Source: Reuters)
South African pacer Kagiso Rabada has replaced England’s James Anderson as the no.1 Test bowler in the world. Rabada had taken five wickets in the recently concluded Test match against India in Cape Town, the first of a three match series. It helped South Africa beat India by 72 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the series. In the batsman’s rankings, Virat Kohli has now gone down to third with England captain Joe Root replacing him in the second spot.
Among Rabada’s victims in the first innings were Rohit Sharma and, more importantly, Hardik Pandya who had made 93 and looked like giving India a chance at significantly reducing the deficit. He managed to dismiss Pandya in the second innings too and this effort helped him pip Anderson. Rabada is now on 888 rating points while Anderson is on 887.
Ravindra Jadeja, who sat out the first Test due to illness, remains third and is followed by compatriot Ravichandran Ashwin, who took two wickets in the first innings and came away with nothing in the second. Vernon Philander, who was man of the match in Cape Town, jumped six places to get to sixth spot.
In the batsman’s rankings, Virat Kohli is down to third while England captain Joe Root has jumped to second spot. Kohli, like the rest of the Indian batsmen, struggled to make runs in Cape Town, managing just 5 and 28 in the match. Australian skipper Steve Smith remains miles above the chasing pack with 947 rating points, with second-placed Root only on 881. Cheteshwar Pujara is down to fifth.