New Zealand captain Kane Williamson became the no.1 ranked Test batsman in the latest ICC rankings, displacing the likes of India’s Virat Kohli and Steve Smith of Australia. This is the second time Williamson had gained the top spot after a brief period in 2015.
Otherwise, Kohli and Smith have traded the no.1 spot between themselves for the majority of the past decade. This year too, Smith was at the top for 313 days and Kohli for 51, before Williamson surged ahead.
After getting to the no.1 spot, Williamson, in a video posted by ICC, said, “It's about trying to do as much as you can for the team. If you can contribute as much as you can and it can be reflected on the rankings, that's really cool.”
Williamson being all humble that he is, praised his contemporaries of the modern fab-four and said, “Those two (Virat Kohli and Steve Smith) players are the best. For me, sneak up on someone is very surprising and humbling. Those are the two players year and year out in all formats moving the game forward, very fortunate to play against these guys.”
Williamson gained 13 rating points for his effort of 129 and 21 against Pakistan, to go 11 points clear of Kohli and 13 ahead of Smith.
Kohli is on paternity leave for the last three Tests of India's ongoing series against Australia while Smith's MCG outing could only get him scores of zero and eight.
(ANI inputs)
