De Kock returns to Top 10 of Test rankings

Cape Town – Proteas batsman Quinton de Kock has moved back into the Top 10 of the ICC Test batting rankings following their defeat against India in the first Test on Sunday.

South Africa were bowled out for 191 in their second innings as they lost by 203 runs in Visakhapatnam.

According to the ICC website, centurions De Kock and Dean Elgar were the only South Africans to move up in the rankings.

De Kock returned to the Top 10 as he gained four places and moved to seventh for scoring his first Test century against India.

De Kock made 111 off 163 balls in the first innings and shared a 164-run partnership with opener Elgar.

However, things didn’t go according to plan for De Kock in the second innings as he fell for a duck.

Meanwhile, Elgar moved up five places to sit in 14th position after making 160 and 2.

India batsman Rohit Sharma, became the first player to score a century in each innings of his maiden Test as opener, reached a career-best 17th position for his 176 and 127.

Among the bowlers, spinner Ravichandran Ashwin made a comeback to the Top 10 after his eight wicket-haul, which included figures of seven for 145 in the first innings.

India have gained 40 points in the ICC World Test Championship table after the win at Visakhapatnam and are now on 160 points after having won a full 120 points for a 2-0 series win in the West Indies.

India lead the three-match series 1-0, with the second Test scheduled for Thursday in Pune (06:00 SA time).

ICC Test rankings:

Batsmen

1. Steve Smith (AUS) – 937

2. Virat Kohli (IND) – 899

3. Kane Williamson (NZ) – 878

4. Cheteshwar Pujara (IND) – 818

5. Henry Nicholls (NZ) – 749

6. Joe Root (ENG) – 731

7. Quinton de Kock (SA) – 729

8. Tom Latham (NZ) – 724

9. Dimuth Karunaratne (SL) – 723