DUBAI, Dec 20: India may have suffered an embarrassing defeat in the series-opener against Australia but its skipper Virat Kohli fractionally closed the gap with top-ranked Test batsman Steve Smith, following his 74-run knock in the first innings in Adelaide.
Kohli gained two points for his half-century to get to 888 while Smith (910) lost 10 points in the table after scoring 1 and 1 in his two innings. Marnus Labuschagne’s innings of 47 and 6 pushed him to a career-best 839 points in the latest ICC rankings for Test batsmen.
Australia skipper Tim Paine’s player-of-the-match innings of 73 not out has lifted him to a career-best 33rd.
Spinner R Ashwin has now become India’s top-ranked bowler after taking four wickets in Australia’s first innings. Ashwin, now ranked ninth, overtook pacer pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins, who gained six points for his seven-wicket haul, has a comfortable lead over Stuart Broad in second place.
Josh Hazelwood gained four spots and move back into the top five, the first time since March 2018. (PTI)
