Published 20:30 IST, December 31st 2020
Williamson 'surprised' & 'humbled' after displacing Kohli & Smith in ICC Test Rankings
Kane Williamson has said that he is 'surprised' and 'humbled' after surpassing Virat Kohli & Steve Smith to achieve the 'Numero Uno' spot in ICC Test Rankings
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New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has said that he is very 'surprised' and 'humbled' after displacing Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Australian Test specialist Steve Smith to achieve the 'Numero Uno' spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Rankings for batsmen. Williamson's match-winning century i.e. 129 in the first innings of the first Test against Pakistan at the Bay Oval helped him in consolidating the top spot.
'Surprising & Humbling': Kane Williamson
"Those two (Virat Kohli and Steve Smith) players are the best. For me, sneak up 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," said the Kiwi skipper while speaking in a video posted on ICC's official Twitter handle.
How Williamson edged past Kohli & Smith?
The New Zealander's outstanding ton against Pakistan recently meant that he finished at the summit of the batsmen's rankings in the longest format of the game with 890 Rating Points. His Indian counterpart Virat Kohli retained the second position with 879 points in his tally. Kohli, who had made a solitary Test appearance during the pink-ball Test match at the Adelaide Oval top-scored for India in the first innings with 74 and was dismissed for 4 in the second. He has now returned back to India on paternity leave.
Steven Smith on the other hand was the top-ranked batsman in red-ball cricket prior to the four-match home Test series against India. However, with scores of 1, 1, 0 & 8 in four innings meant that the elegant number three batsman dropped down to the third spot with 877 points. It now remains to be seen whether 'Smudge' can rediscover his mojo in the next two Test matches that will be played in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.
(With ANI Inputs)
20:30 IST, December 31st 2020