Kohli, Pujara slip in ICC Test rankings as Bhuvi eyes top 20.
BCCI
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara have slipped down in the ICC Test rankings following their poor display against South Africa in Cape Town. However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar could now be eyeing a chance to break into the top 20 for the first time in his career, after bagging six wickets in the match.
India lost their first Test match as the batsmen crumbled like a house of cards facing a fierce South African bowling attack, on a bouncy and swinging Newlands pitch. And the 72-run defeat has left a severe mark on the ICC rankings with many players seeing a dip in their positions.
Kohli could only manage to score just 33 runs in two innings and has consequently slipped one spot from second to third.
The list is led by the Australian captain Steven Smith, who leads Joe Root by 66 points. India's Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have also lost their ground due following the poor batting display in both the innings. Vijay is now at the 30th spot, while Dhawan and Rohit take 33rd and 44th respectively. While Vijay has dropped five places, Dhawan and Rohit have dropped three places.
However, it is not all gloomy for India as they see the likes of Hardik Pandya and Buvneshwar Kumar climbing the charts. The all-rounder did brilliantly in the Test match in Cape Town as he scored 94 runs and took two wickets. He has jumped 24 places to sit at 49th position in the latest rankings.
Amongst the bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar managed to achieve his career-best ranking of 22 after leapfrogging eight places and finishing the test match with the figures 6/120. He now has a chance of entering the top 20 by the end of the test series.
South Africa had a mixed show by the Proteas batsmen, who also saw some drops and gains in the latest rankings. Hashim Amla and Dean Elgar have slipped to 10th and 16th position respectively, while former skipper AB de Villiers has risen to the 13th position. He would be eyeing a top 10 place by the end of the series.Â
The ICC Test bowling rankings
