India captain Virat Kohli has reached a personal best of 937 rating points while reclaiming the top position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after the Trent Bridge Test.
The 29-year-old’s player of the match effort of 97 and 103 not only helped his team reduce the deficit in the five-match series to 2-1 after winning the third Test by 203 runs but has also lifted him to the 11th best ever in terms of rating points.
Kohli, who claimed the top spot for the first time after the opening Test in Birmingham but dropped to second after the Lord’s Test, is now only one point behind a group of four in the all-time list and with a good chance of going past them on current form that has seen him score 440 runs in the series.
For his 200 runs in the game, India’s Virat Kohli is Player of the Match! What a cricketer he is!#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/5JTByaXBR3
— ICC (@ICC) August 22, 2018
The top 10 in the list are Don Bradman (961 points), Steven Smith (947), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs (942), Ricky Ponting (942), Peter May (941), Gary Sobers, Clyde Walcott, Vivian Richards and Sangakkara (all 938 points).
Cheteshwar Pujara remains the second highest ranked India batsman in the list, in sixth position, while Ajinkya Rahane (up four places to 19th), Shikhar Dhawan (up four places to 22nd) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (up eight places to 51st) have moved up after useful contributions at Trent Bridge.
Pandya has also reached the 51st spot in the bowlers’ rankings, gaining 23 slots to reach his career-best position after a crucial five-wicket haul in the first innings. His fellow fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul in England’s second innings has also lifted him to a career-best 37th position after a gain of eight places.
“To show you can do it for your team and that you hopefully belong is maybe the biggest thing.” @josbuttler reflects on his “proudest moment”. ⬇️#ENGvIND https://t.co/ct7GHe7koD pic.twitter.com/Y0YvSVB0M2
— ICC (@ICC) August 22, 2018
For England, Jos Buttler’s valiant 106 in the second innings has lifted him 22 places to 47thposition. Another significant gainer for England in the batsmen’s rankings is Adil Rashid, whose unbeaten 33 in the second innings has seen him gain eight slots to reach 116th position.
Rashid has also gained four slots to reach 47th position among bowlers after grabbing four wickets in the match, while Chris Woakes has inched up one place to 31st position after also finishing with four wickets in the third Test.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 23 August, following the Trent Bridge Test):
BATSMEN (top 20)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Avge | Highest rating |
| 1 | (+1) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 937! | 54.49 | 937 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2018 |
| 2 | (-1) | Steve Smith | Aus | 929 | 61.37 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 3 | (+1) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 847 | 50.35 | 893 v Aus at Perth 2015 |
| 4 | (+1) | David Warner | Aus | 820 | 48.2 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 5 | (-2) | Joe Root | Eng | 818 | 51.27 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 6 | ( – ) | C. Pujara | Ind | 763 | 49.3 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 7 | ( – ) | D. Karunaratne | SL | 754! | 37.28 | 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018 |
| 8 | ( – ) | D. Chandimal | SL | 733 | 44.96 | 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018 |
| 9 | (+1) | Dean Elgar | SA | 724 | 41.05 | 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 10 | (+1) | Aiden Markram | SA | 703* | 47.27 | 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 11= | (+1) | Ross Taylor | NZ | 697 | 47.22 | 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013 |
| (-2) | Jonny Bairstow | Eng | 697 | 38.55 | 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017 | |
| 13 | ( – ) | Kraigg Brathwaite | Win | 695 | 37.94 | 701 v Eng at Headingley 2017 |
| 14 | ( – ) | Hashim Amla | SA | 673 | 47.23 | 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013 |
| 15 | ( – ) | Azhar Ali | Pak | 672 | 44.84 | 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016 |
| 16 | ( – ) | Faf du Plessis | SA | 665 | 42.33 | 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018 |
| 17= | ( – ) | Alastair Cook | Eng | 641 | 45.11 | 874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012 |
| (+1) | Kusal Mendis | SL | 641 | 36.78 | 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018 | |
| 19 | (+4) | Ajinkya Rahane | Ind | 636 | 41.79 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
| 20 | (-1) | Usman Khawaja | Aus | 633 | 42 | 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017 |
BOWLERS (top 20)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | James Anderson | Eng | 899 | 26.85 | 903 v Ind at Lord’s 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 882 | 21.71 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Ravindra Jadeja | Ind | 840 | 23.11 | 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Vernon Philander | SA | 826 | 21.54 | 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013 |
| 5 | (+1) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 800*! | 23.81 | 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 6 | (+1) | Trent Boult | NZ | 795 | 27.84 | 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 |
| 7 | (-2) | R. Ashwin | Ind | 792 | 25.45 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
| 8 | ( – ) | Rangana Herath | SL | 791 | 27.95 | 867 v Zim at Harare 2016 |
| 9 | ( – ) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 765 | 28.26 | 785 v Win at Wellington 2017 |
| 10 | ( – ) | Josh Hazlewood | Aus | 759 | 26.84 | 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 11 | ( – ) | Shannon Gabriel | Win | 757! | 29.57 | 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018 |
| 12 | ( – ) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 734 | 28.91 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 13 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | Win | 731*! | 29.35 | 731 v Ban at Jamaica 2018 |
| 14= | ( – ) | Tim Southee | NZ | 720 | 30.82 | 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014 |
| ( – ) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 720 | 28.17 | 805 v SA at Durban 2018 | |
| 16 | ( – ) | Nathan Lyon | Aus | 710 | 32.21 | 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017 |
| 17 | ( – ) | Keshav Maharaj | SA | 692* | 27.65 | 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017 |
| 18 | ( – ) | Yasir Shah | Pak | 683 | 29.44 | 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 |
| 19 | (+1) | Kemar Roach | Win | 667 | 28.31 | 774 v SA at Centurion 2014 |
| 20 | (+1) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 665 | 31.87 | 705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
ALL-ROUNDERS (top five)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 420 | 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
| 2= | (+2) | Vernon Philander | SA | 370 | 379 v SL at Galle 2018 |
| ( – ) | Ravindra Jadeja | Ind | 370 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 | |
| 4 | (-1) | R. Ashwin | Ind | 367 | 493 v Eng at Mohali 2016 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | Win | 354/* | 355 v Ban at Jamaica 2018 |
