Dubai: After a commanding century in Kolkata test match, India captain Virat Kohli bridged the gap with top-ranked Steve Smith, while opener Mayank Agarwal made his maiden entry into the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings issued on Tuesday.
Kohli (928 rating points), who hit 136 against Bangladesh in the Pink Ball Test in Kolkata, reduced the gap from 25 to three points with Australian Smith (931) to retain the second spot.
Mayank Agarwal, who smashed a double century in the first Test against Bangladesh in Indore, jumped one place to 10th with 700 points. He is the fourth Indian batsmen in the top 10 list including Cheteshwar Pujara (791) and Ajinkya Rahane (759) at fourth and fifth positions respectively.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes also reached the top 10 for the first time by jumping three places after scores of 91 and 28 against New Zealand in the ongoing test series. Kiwi left-arm quick Neil Wagner gained five places to moved up to No 3 among bowlers in the ICC Test rankings after he took eight wickets, including a five-for in the second innings, to lead New Zealand to victory in the first-ever Test in Mount Maunganui.
Wagner's team-mate BJ Watling, who became the first New Zealand wicketkeeper to make a Test double-hundred, shot up 12 spots to be placed 12th among Test batsmen while Australia's Marnus Labuschagne (after scoring 185 in the Brisbane Test) also reached career-best points of 684 and slotted in at 21 - nine places behind Watling.
Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim gained four slots to reach 26th after scoring a fighting 74 in the second innings of the Kolkata Test while Liton Das is up eight slots to 78th position.Meanwhile, India fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav achieved career-high points after victories over Bangladesh. Ishant has 716 points but is in the 17th place, way behind his career-best seventh place achieved in July 2011.
Umesh has 672 points and has jumped one place to 21st.Senior India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin moved one place up to ninth with 772 points, while injury-sidelined Jasprit Bumrah lost one spot to be at fifth with 794 rating points.
Ravindra Jadeja, who jumped one spot to 15th among bowlers with 725 points, retained his second spot, behind West Indian Jason Holder, in the all-rounders' rankings while off-spuinner Ashwin moved down one place to fifth among the all-rounders.(UNI)
