Virat Kohli is back at the top of the batsmen’s list in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings as Australia’s Steve Smith slipped behind the India captain in the latest update carried out on Wednesday.
Kohli, who had struck a fine 136 in the day-night Kolkata Test against Bangladesh last week to reach 928 points, is now five points clear as Smith’s knock of 36 in the Adelaide Test against Pakistan saw him slip to 923 points from 931 before the match.
Williamson, Taylor make hundreds as New Zealand draw second Test, take series 1-0
Australia opener David Warner’s epic 335 not out has lifted him 12 places to the fifth position while Marnus Labuschagne is in the top 10 for the first time after being ranked as low as 110th at the start of the year.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc is another Australia player to gain in the latest update, which also takes into account performances in the drawn New Zealand-England Test in Hamilton and the one in Lucknow that saw the West Indies defeat Afghanistan by nine wickets. Starc has moved up four places to 14th after grabbing seven wickets in the Adelaide Test.
Lyon takes five as Australia thrash Pakistan with day to spare
Pakistan middle-order batsman Babar Azam has moved up two places to 13th, thanks to his fighting knock of 97 in the first innings, while left-handed opener Shan Masood has gained 10 places to reach a career-best 47th position after striking 68 in the second innings. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, one of the stars of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2018, has moved up 13 places to 49th among bowlers.
England captain Joe Root is back in the top 10 after spending a week outside it, his innings of 226 pulling him up to seventh from 11th. Rory Burns’s second Test century has pushed him into the top 40 for the first time.
For New Zealand, Ross Taylor has gained two places to reach 16th among batsmen and Tim Southee has moved up one place to 13th among bowlers.
West Indies captain Jason Holder’s five wickets have helped him move up one slot to third place with a career-best 830 rating points and he has also consolidated his position at the top of the all-rounders’ list.
Cornwall takes 10 as West Indies crush Afghanistan in just over two days
Off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall has broken into the top 50 with a 10-wicket haul while centurion Shamarh Brooks has risen 68 places to 62nd.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 4 December 2019, after the Adelaide, Hamilton and Lucknow Test matches)
Batsmen (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | (+1) | Virat Kohli | India | 928 | 54.97 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 2 | -1 | Steve Smith | Aus | 923 | 63.75 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 3 | ( – ) | K Williamson | NZ | 877 | 52.68 | 915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | C Pujara | India | 791 | 49.48 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 5 | (+12) | David Warner | Aus | 764 | 48.58 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 6 | -1 | A Rahane | India | 759 | 43.74 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
| 7 | (+4) | Joe Root | Eng | 752 | 48.54 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 8 | (+6) | M Labuschagne | Aus | 731*! | 53.52 | 731 v Pak at Adelaide 2019 |
| 9 | -3 | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 726 | 43.42 | 778 v Ban at Wellington 2019 |
| 10 | -3 | D Karunaratne | SL | 723 | 36.93 | 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018 |
Other selected ratings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 13 | (+2) | Babar Azam | Pak | 698! | 37.05 | 698 v Aus at Adelaide 2019 |
| 16= | (+2) | Ross Taylor | NZ | 688 | 47.12 | 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013 |
| 36 | (+10) | Rory Burns | Eng | 565*! | 32.81 | 565 v NZ at Hamilton 2019 |
| 41= | (+9) | Shane Dowrich | WI | 544! | 30.08 | 544 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 47 | (+10) | Shan Masood | Pak | 527*! | 27.91 | 527 v Aus at Adelaide 2019 |
| 62= | (+68) | S Brooks | WI | 466*! | 34.8 | 466 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 64= | (+3) | Tim Paine | Aus | 462* | 30.97 | 528 v India at Melbourne 2018 |
| (+6) | Matthew Wade | Aus | 462* | 31.45 | 465 v SL at Sydney 2013 | |
| 74 | (+24) | John Campbell | WI | 421*! | 29.8 | 421 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
Bowlers (top 10)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 900 | 22.1 | 914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 839 | 22.5 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 3 | (+1) | Jason Holder | WI | 830! | 26.37 | 830 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 4 | -1 | Neil Wagner | NZ | 814 | 26.98 | 816 v Eng at Mount Maunganui 2019 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Jasprit Bumrah | India | 794* | 19.24 | 835 v WI at Jamaica 2019 |
| 6 | (+1) | V Philander | SA | 783 | 22.16 | 912 v India at Johannesburg 2013 |
| 7 | -1 | J Anderson | Eng | 782 | 26.94 | 903 v India at Lord’s 2018 |
| 8 | (+1) | J Hazlewood | Aus | 776 | 26.33 | 863 v India at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 9 | ( – ) | R Ashwin | India | 772 | 25.36 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
| 10 | (+1) | M Shami | India | 771 | 27.09 | 790 v Ban at Indore 2019 |
Other selected rankings
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 13 | (+1) | Tim Southee | NZ | 755 | 30.01 | 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014 |
| 14 | (+4) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 752 | 27.57 | 805 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 15 | (+1) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 733 | 28.77 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 20 | (+1) | Umesh Yadav | India | 672! | 30.26 | 672 v Ban at Kolkata 2019 |
| 21 | (+1) | Nathan Lyon | Aus | 648 | 32.36 | 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017 |
| 23 | (+3) | Chris Woakes | Eng | 606* | 30.96 | 609 v Pak at The Oval 2016 |
| 34 | (+5) | Roston Chase | WI | 462*! | 42.37 | 462 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 47 | (+63) | R Cornwall | WI | 364*! | 22.61 | 364 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 49 | (+13) | Shaheen Afridi | Pak | 335*! | 33 | 335 v Aus at Adelaide 2019 |
| 50 | (+4) | Sam Curran | Eng | 328* | 31.37 | 342 v India at The Oval 2018 |
All-rounders (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Pts | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | WI | 473! | 473 v Afg at Lucknow 2019 |
| 2 | ( – ) | R Jadeja | India | 406 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 381 | 411 v Aus at Headingley 2019 |
| 4 | ( – ) | V Philander | SA | 315 | 377 v SL at Galle 2018 |
| 5 | ( – ) | R Ashwin | India | 308 | 492 v Eng at Mohali 2016 |
* indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.
! indicates career-highest rating
