After a dream run in the 2019 Ashes series in England in which Australia's premier batsman Steve Smith finally regained his top spot in the ICC’s Test batsmen rankings, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has once again joint the race to dethrone his former Aussie counterpart. Captain Kohli, who just scored a career-best 254 not out against the South African bowling attack in the second Test match in Pune recently, raced to 936 rating points according to the latest ranking charts revealed by the ICC.

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As of now, Kohli is just two points away from toppling Smith and with India and South Africa set to lock horns in the third Test this Saturday in Ranchi, the Indian captain has a great opportunity ahead to regain the top spot. Over the last few years, both batsmen have been in a prolific run-scoring spree and have been in a constant race to helm the ICC batsmen rankings.

Virat Kohli just 2 points away from overtaking Steve Smith

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The Indian skipper is already leading the ICC charts for ODI batsmen by a long margin. After his whirlwind 254 not out of 336 balls against South Africa in Pune, captain Kohli looks all set to lead the charts for Test batsmen as well. His recent double-century was his 26th ton in Tests and his seventh double-hundred in the game’s longest format. With his innings, Kohli also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s and Virender Sehwag’s record of most double-centuries in Tests by Indians. The right-handed batsman is already the only batsman in the world who simultaneously holds an average of 50 or above in all three formats of the game.

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Steve Smith’s return to international cricket

Earlier in August, Steve Smith made a return to the Australian Test side after serving his one-year ban from international cricket. During his time outside cricket, Steve Smith’s number 1 ranking was claimed by his Indian counterpart. However, Smith made a grand return to the big stage as he scored 774 runs in the four Ashes Tests he played. His runs came at a Bradman-esque average of 110.57 in swinging English conditions.

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