After a hiatus of a year, Steve Smith is back and how! The Australian cricketer served a ban for a year due to the infamous sandpaper gate which shocked fans all around the world. The right-handed batsman put up a stellar show and played a vital role in the team’s victory. Smith scored 144 and 142 runs respectively in the first and second innings during the opening match of the Ashes 2019 held at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground. With this, the right-hander inched closer to Virat Kohli’s Test Rankings. Smith, Best Batsman in the World Along with Kohli: Justin Langer.

Steve Smith has attained one place higher to reach number three of the ICC Test Rankings. With a couple of back-to-back centuries, Smith now has 900 points in his kitty. Virat Kohli who stands on the number one slot has 922 points whereas, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson is on number two with 913 points. Nathan Lyon also gained six places to and now features on numbers 13 position of the ICC Cricket All-Rounders Test Rankings.

The official account of the International Cricket Rankings shared the updated rankings on social media. Check out the tweet below:

England’s Rory Burns who scored 133 runs in the first innings got a career-high ranking and is now placed on 81. Burns has moved up by 25 places. Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes are in 69th and 70th positions in the list for batsmen after gaining one and 11 points, respectively. Stuart Broad who completed 100 wickets in Test Cricket is placed on 16th position and has jumped a couple of places above.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 06, 2019 04:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).