Kohli jumps to 5th spot in Test rankings for batsmen

India captain Virat Kohli replaced Australian opener David Warner to grab the fifth spot in the rankings for Test batsmen, while Ravindra Jadeja has slipped to the third position in the bowlers' chart, it was announced on Tuesday.

Kohli completed his 50th international century in the first match of a three-Test series against Sri Lanka in Kolkata, which ended in a draw on Tuesday. Kohli, who is top-ranked in both ODIs and T20Is, knocked up a fine 104 not out on the last day of the match.

His compatriot Shikhar Dhawan has gained two places to reach the 28th position, while Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored a fine half-century on a green-top wicket at the Eden Gardens, occupies the fourth spot.

Australia captain Steve Smith leads the chart with his England counterpart Joe Root in second position but a good 47 points behind.

In the bowling rankings, Jadeja, who started the Sri Lanka series with the opportunity to reclaim the top bowling and all-rounder rankings, could not work towards the objective in Kolkata as all Sri Lanka batsmen fell to pace bowlers. The Saurashtra left-arm spinner has slipped to third position among bowlers and also lost 20 points in the rankings for all-rounders, but still has a lot to look forward to in the remaining matches.

South African paceman Kagiso Rabada is in the second place, 20 points behind England veteran seamer James Anderson, while Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin remained in the fourth spot.

Indian seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has gained eight places to reach a career-best 29th position after an eight-wicket haul in the match against the Sri Lankans, while pacer Mohammad Shami has moved up one slot to 18th position.

Sri Lankan off-spinner Dilruwan Perera has moved up three places to reach 22nd position among bowlers.

--IANS

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