Tom Latham reaps rewards of outstanding 264* in the latest rankings update after the Wellington and Perth Tests.
Captains Virat Kohli of India and Kane Williamson of New Zealand have consolidated their positions in the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen, even as Tom Latham, Angelo Mathews and Nathan Lyon have made considerable gains in the latest rankings update carried out on Thursday.
Top-ranked Kohli feeling the heat from Williamson
Top-ranked Kohli has gained 14 points to reach 934 points after a valiant first-innings knock of 123 in the second Test at Perth which Australia won by 146 runs on Tuesday to draw level at 1-1 in the four-match series. Kohli has thus increased his lead over Williamson from seven to 19 points.
However, second-ranked Williamson too has something to cheer about after scoring 91 in the drawn first of two Tests against Sri Lanka, which ended in Wellington on Wednesday. He has reached a personal best of 915 points, the joint-25th highest ever and equal with ICC Hall of Famer George Headley of the West Indies.
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New Zealand opener Tom Latham is another major gainer after an outstanding Test performance of 264 not out that not only won him the man of the match award but has also lifted him 15 slots to a career-best 22nd position. Fast bowler Tim Southee is another one to gain from the team, his eight wickets in the match helping gain four slots to reach 11th position.
For Sri Lanka, former captain Angelo Mathews (83 and 120 not out) and Kusal Mendis (141 not out) have been rewarded after their match-saving efforts. Mathews has gained eight slots to reach 16th place while Mendis has moved up two slots to take 18th position. Among their bowlers, Lahiru Kumara has gained five slots to reach 43rd place after finishing with four wickets.
There were more movements owing to performances in Perth with Player of the Match Nathan Lyon’s eight wickets helping grab a career-best seventh place, a position he had also previously attained in October last year. Josh Hazlewood (up two places to ninth) and Mitchell Starc (up one place to 15th) are the other Australia bowlers to move up.
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Among their batsmen, Usman Khawaja (up one place to 12th), captain Tim Paine (up nine places to 46th) and Travis Head (up 16 places to 63rd) are the ones to move up the ladder after useful contributions against the world’s top-ranked Test side.
For India, apart from Kohli, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (up two places to 15th) and wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant (up 11 places to a career-best 48th) have also moved up among batsmen while fast bowlers Mohammad Shami (up two places to 24th) and Jasprit Bumrah (up five places to a career-best 28th) have advanced in the list for bowlers.
MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 20 December, following the conclusion of the Perth and Wellington Tests):
BATSMEN (top 20)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Virat Kohli | Ind | 934 | 54.23 | 937 v Eng at Southampton 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Kane Williamson | NZ | 915! | 51.91 | 915 v SL at Wellington 2018 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Steve Smith | Aus | 892 | 61.37 | 947 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 4 | ( – ) | C. Pujara | Ind | 816 | 49.77 | 888 v SL at Nagpur 2017 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Joe Root | Eng | 807 | 50.44 | 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015 |
| 6 | ( – ) | David Warner | Aus | 787 | 48.2 | 880 v NZ at Perth 2015 |
| 7 | ( – ) | D. Karunaratne | SL | 752 | 37.73 | 754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018 |
| 8 | ( – ) | Dean Elgar | SA | 724 | 41.05 | 784 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 9= | (+1) | Azhar Ali | Pak | 708 | 44.88 | 787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016 |
| ( – ) | Henry Nicholls | NZ | 708* | 39.56 | 709 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2018 | |
| 11 | ( – ) | Aiden Markram | SA | 703* | 47.27 | 759 v Aus at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 12 | (+1) | U. Khawaja | Aus | 692 | 42.8 | 747 v Pak at Sydney 2017 |
| 13 | (-1) | D. Chandimal | SL | 679 | 43.83 | 755 v Win at St Lucia 2018 |
| 14 | ( – ) | Hashim Amla | SA | 673 | 47.23 | 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013 |
| 15 | (+2) | Ajinkya Rahane | Ind | 669 | 41.38 | 825 v NZ at Indore 2016 |
| 16 | (+8) | Angelo Mathews | SL | 668 | 44.34 | 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014 |
| 17 | (-2) | Faf du Plessis | SA | 665 | 42.33 | 734 v Ind at Centurion 2018 |
| 18 | (+2) | Kusal Mendis | SL | 662 | 37.8 | 693 v Win at St Lucia 2018 |
| 19 | (-3) | Ross Taylor | NZ | 656 | 46.11 | 871 v Win at Hamilton 2013 |
| 20 | (-3) | Jonny Bairstow | Eng | 653 | 37.71 | 772 v SA at Old Trafford 2017 |
BOWLERS (top 20)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Avge | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Kagiso Rabada | SA | 882 | 21.71 | 902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018 |
| 2 | ( – ) | James Anderson | Eng | 874 | 26.98 | 903 v Ind at Lord’s 2018 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Vernon Philander | SA | 826 | 21.54 | 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013 |
| 4 | ( – ) | M. Abbas | Pak | 821* | 16.62 | 838 v NZ at Abu Dhabi 2018 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Ravindra Jadeja | Ind | 796 | 23.5 | 899 v Aus at Ranchi 2017 |
| 6 | ( – ) | R. Ashwin | Ind | 778 | 25.43 | 904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016 |
| 7 | (+7) | Nathan Lyon | Aus | 766 | 31.6 | 774 v Eng at Adelaide 2017 |
| 8 | (-1) | Pat Cummins | Aus | 761* | 24.8 | 800 v SA at Johannesburg 2018 |
| 9 | (+2) | Josh Hazlewood | Aus | 758 | 26.66 | 863 v Ind at Bengaluru 2017 |
| 10 | (-1) | Yasir Shah | Pak | 757 | 28.26 | 878 v Eng at Lord’s 2016 |
| 11 | (+4) | Tim Southee | NZ | 752 | 30.16 | 799 v Win at Jamaica 2014 |
| 12 | (-2) | Jason Holder | Win | 751* | 28.5 | 766 v Ind at Hyderabad 2018 |
| 13 | (-1) | Shannon Gabriel | Win | 742 | 29.73 | 757 v Ban at Jamaica 2018 |
| 14 | (-6) | Trent Boult | NZ | 739 | 28.54 | 825 v Eng at Lord’s 2015 |
| 15 | (+1) | Mitchell Starc | Aus | 703 | 28.22 | 805 v SA at Durban 2018 |
| 16 | (-3) | Neil Wagner | NZ | 698 | 29.25 | 785 v Win at Wellington 2017 |
| 17 | ( – ) | Mehidy Hasan | Ban | 696*! | 29.78 | 696 v Win at Dhaka 2018 |
| 18 | ( – ) | Stuart Broad | Eng | 694 | 29.04 | 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016 |
| 19 | ( – ) | Keshav Maharaj | SA | 692* | 27.65 | 695 v Zim at Port Elizabeth 2017 |
| 20 | (+1) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 675 | 31.27 | 705 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
ALL-ROUNDERS (top 5)
| Rank | (+/-) | Player | Team | Points | Highest Rating |
| 1 | ( – ) | Shakib Al Hasan | Ban | 415 | 489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017 |
| 2 | ( – ) | Ravindra Jadeja | Ind | 384 | 438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017 |
| 3 | ( – ) | Vernon Philander | SA | 370 | 378 v SL at Galle 2018 |
| 4 | ( – ) | Jason Holder | Win | 365/* | 381 v Ind at Hyderabad 2018 |
| 5 | ( – ) | Ben Stokes | Eng | 342 | 396 v Win at Lord’s 2017 |
