India might have lost the first test at Edgbaston against England by 31 runs, but the guests surely have something to cheer for. Virat Kohli’s knock of 149 and 51 runs in the first and second innings have helped him get the number one spot at the ICC Test Rankings. The Indian cricket captain has overtaken Steve Smith and got a career-high 934 rating points. Smith is just five points behind Kohli.
With the knock of 149, Kohli scored his 22nd century and has become the first batsman to acquire the number one spot after Sachin Tendulkar. Smith hasn’t played test cricket ever since his ban in March, 2018 owing to the sandpaper gate. The official handle of the ICC, posted the news about Kohli’s ranking on social media and wrote, “@virat.kohli has overtaken Steve Smith to become the new No.1 batsman in #MRFTyres ICC Test Rankings. He is the first Indian since @sachintendulkar to get there. #Test #Rankings #ViratKohli #Cricket#lovecircket.”
A while ago we told you that the same ICC account had taken a jibe at Virat Kohli. After the match, the Indian cricket captain was seen talking intently to Joe Root and the ICC decided to add a creative element to the snap. The official body added a mic which appeared to be falling from Joe Root’s hands. Now, this did not go down well with the Indian cricket fans and they mercilessly trolled the ICC for the same.
The Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli sounded extremely disappointed with the batsmen and said that they could have opted for better shots. “Our shot selection could have been better. We definitely need to apply ourselves better with the bat, but England came back superbly. We need to take the positives and move forward. We can be proud as a team to start against England in England the way we have. There is a lot to learn from the lower order in the first innings, Ishant and Umesh got stuck in the middle. Ishant showed character here, Umesh hung around with Hardik again,” he said during the post-match presentation ceremony.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 05, 2018 12:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).