Steven Smith topples Virat Kohli, becomes No. 1 Test batsman again
Jasprit Bumrah and Jason Holder move into top five for bowlers after Jamaica Test
ESPNcricinfo staff
03-Sep-2019
Another day, another raise of the bat for Steven Smith • Getty Images
Steven Smith might have missed the Headingley Test, but still managed to reclaim the top spot in the world rankings for Test batsmen after Virat Kohli, ahead by just six points after the last update, slipped to No. 2 following scores of 76 and 0 at Sabina Park.
Kohli did well in the first innings in Jamaica, and led India to a 257-run win and a 2-0 series triumph, but up at the top, every failure affects a player's position, as his first-ball duck off Kemar Roach in the second dig proved. That brought him down to 903 rating points, one below Smith, who has 904.
The series win, however, helped India consolidate their position atop the team chart, their 113 points four clear of second-placed New Zealand, who drew their two-Test series 1-1 in Sri Lanka.
Smith had taken over the No. 1 ranking in December 2015 but Kohli overtook him in August 2018 when Smith was out of action because of the one-year ban following the Cape Town ball-tampering scandal.
Back in Australia's whites, Smith scored 144 and 142 in Australia's win at Edgbaston before scoring 92 in his only innings in the drawn Lord's Test. He didn't bat in the second innings after concussion following a blow to the head from a Jofra Archer bouncer, and Marnus Labuschagne replaced him in the second innings. Smith then sat out the third Test at Headingley.
While Smith has a chance to add to his tally - or lose points - in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford, Kohli's next Test assignment will come during the home series against South Africa in October.
The big news on the bowlers' front was Jasprit Bumrah and Jason Holder moving into the top five. Bumrah had started the Jamaica Test in seventh position, while Holder was at 11th place. The Indian's 6 for 27 and Holder's 5 for 77 - both in the first innings - lifted them to No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. Roach stayed in the top ten, but moved one spot down to ninth after picking up just four wickets in the second Test against India.
Bumrah's tally of 835 rating points, meanwhile, is the second-highest by an Indian pacer in Test cricket, only behind Kapil Dev's 877 in 1980 - interestingly, Bumrah has reached where he has in just 12 Test matches.
Pat Cummins and Kagiso Rabada continued to hold the top-two spots on that table.
From other batsmen in action in the West Indies v India Test series, Ajinkya Rahane's 81, 102, 24 and 64 not out helped him get back in the top ten, up to No.7 from No. 11, while Hanuma Vihari's 32, 93, 111 and 53 not out took him up to No. 30 after just six Test appearances.