India skipper Virat Kohli has climbed one place to occupy the second spot among Test batsmen in the latest rankings released by the International Cricket Council on Thursday (January 18).

Kohli, who slammed his 21st Test ton (153 off 217 balls) in the recently concluded second Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park Centurion, currently boasts of 900 rating points in the list of Test batsmen. This astonishing feat also makes him the second India batsman after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to attain the 900 rating points mark.

Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10000 Test runs, had accomplished the same feat in his 50th Test when he scored 13 and 221 against England at The Oval in 1979 to jump from 887 points to 916 points, which remained his career-best.

Besides, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid are the other two India batsmen who came close to the 900-point mark. However, both the batting greats weren’t able to break the barrier. While Tendulkar reached the maximum of 898 rating points in 2002, Dravid peaked to 892 points in 2005.

Australia skipper Steve Smith, who has been doing wonders in the longest format of cricket for some time now, is leading the pack of batsmen in the current rankings. With 947 rating points, Smith is currently placed at the second in the all-time list. Only the legendary Australian batsman Sir Donald Bradman is ahead of Smith with a staggering tally of 961 rating points.

Apart from Smith and Kohli, England and New Zealand’s Test skipper Joe Root (881) and Kane Williamson (855) are placed at number 3 and 4 spots respectively. Australia’s dashing opener David Warner, who amassed 441 runs at an average of 63 in the recently concluded Ashes series, is placed at the 5th spot while Pujara has slipped one place to sixth after his miserable show against the Proteas in at Newlands and Centurion.

As far as the Test bowling list is concerned – England paceman James Anderson is leading the pack with 887 rating points whereas speedster Kagiso Rabada (872 rating points) is slotted at second position. India’s spin duo Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are slotted third and fifth spots sandwiched by the Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood.