ICC Test Rankings | Steve Smith goes past Cheteshwar Pujara to climb to third sport
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Australian run machine Steve Smith has climbed up to the third spot in the latest ICC rankings, going past India's Cheteshwar Pujara. After not having played Test Cricket for 16 months, the Australian announced his comeback to red-ball cricket with twin centuries against England at Edgbaston.
After making a fairytale comeback to the Test arena at Edgbaston in the first Ashes Test, Steve Smith has already started his quest to once again become the top-ranked Test batsman in the world. The 30-year-old scored 144 and 142 in the first and the second innings respectively against England, and the knocks subsequently helped him move to the third position on the latest ICC Test Batsmen Rankings released by the ICC, going past India's Cheteshwar Pujara.
Despite missing more than one year of Test cricket, Smith (903) is now less than 20 points away from Virat Kohli (922) and Kane Willamson (913), who are first and second on the charts respectively. With all three men set to be in action in whites in the upcoming weeks, the rankings might very well turn on its head by the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Pat Cummins (898) consolidated his position at the top thanks to his seven wickets in the first Test, while Nathan Lyon, who bowled Australia to victory on the final day with an immaculate six-wicket haul, has moved six spots to 13th in the latest ICC Test rankings for bowlers.
For England, veteran Stuart Broad, who claimed his 450th wicket on Day 1 of the Edgbaston Test, moved up two places to 16th, while Chris Woakes, who accounted for four scalps in the match, moved up four places to No.29 in the rankings.
