India vs South Africa: Rohit Sharma Attains Career-Best Ranking, Virat Kohli Drops Points

Rohit Sharma opened the innings for the first Time in Test cricket and broke several records. He became the only player in the history of the game to score two centuries in his first Test as an opener. Rohit Sharma also broke the record of hitting most number of sixes in one Test match. Rohit's record-shattering innings helped him achieve a career-best ranking as he jumped 36 slots to be 17th in the latest Test Player Rankings, released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday. Rohit Sharma's knocks of 176 and 127 in the first Test against South Africa in Vizag helped India register an emphatic 203-run victory. For his heroics, the 32-year-old batsman was adjudged the player of the match.

Another Indian opener Mayank Agarwal who converted his maiden Test century into a double ton also gained 38 places and attained his career-best 25th position.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who managed only 20 and 31 not out in the two innings of the just-concluded Test match, dropped below 900-point mark for the first time since January 2018. Kohli is now 38 points behind top-ranked Steve Smith who had a memorable Ashes 2019.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his first international match since December 2018, impressed one and all as he picked up eight wickets in the game, which included figures of 7/145 in the first innings.

Ashwin's incredible performance reflected in the latest Test Bowler's Rankings as he stormed into the top 10 after gaining four places from 14th position. He also moved into the top five among all-rounders.

Another standout with the ball for India was fast bowler Mohammed Shami who claimed five wickets in the second innings on the final day, helping India bowl South Africa out for 191 runs. Shami's second innings heroics helped him reach a career-best 710 ranking points and finish on 18th position -- two place below his career-best 14th rank.

Ravindra Jadeja took six wickets, two in the first and four in the second innings, and also played two crucial cameos in the match which helped him leapfrog Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan to take second position among all-rounders.

Topics mentioned in this article

Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Mayank Agarwal India Cricket Team India vs South Africa, 2019 Cricket India vs South Africa, 1st Test