Virat Kohli ends England series as world’s best

Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli ended the England tour as the number-one ranked batsman in world despite failing in his last innings while just retired England opener Alastair Cook signed off from international cricket on a remarkable note, moving into the top-10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test Batsmen.

Cook was adjudged Player of the Match in the final Test at The Oval.

The left-hander’s scores of 71 and 147 made him only the fifth man in history to notch a century in his first and last Test matches, and also helped his side win by 118 runs to complete a 4-1 win in the five-match series. This memorable performance lifted the 33-year-old 11 positions to 10th in the latest ICC rankings released on Wednesday.

Cook had achieved a career-high ranking of second in September 2011 after he had scored a Test best 294 against India at Edgbaston. This was the same year when Cook won the prestigious ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award.

The former England captain has ended an impressive career with the third-best ranking for a retiring England batsman after Wally Hammond (fifth) and Geoff Boycott (eighth). However, he has finished in a higher position than any of the batsmen who scored more runs than him in the pinnacle format. Apart from winning the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award in 2011, Cook was named in the ICC Test Team of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016 (as captain).

He also made his way into the ICC ODI Team of the Year in 2012, the year in which he reached his career-best fifth position in ODIs during the month of June.

Kohli, meanwhile, had started the series 27 points behind Australia’s Steve Smith and finished one point ahead of his closest rival.

Kohli had first reached the top of the world after the Edgbaston Test and then reclaimed the top spot after the Trent Bridge Test. He will now defend his number-one ranking in the two-Test home series against the West Indies, which starts on 4 October. In the rankings for Test bowlers, England fast bowler James Anderson started and finished the series in number-one ranking.

Meanwhile, England have advanced to fourth position in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings. They have gained eight points to move above New Zealand to 105 points and just one point behind South Africa and Australia, who are both on 106 points with the former marginally ahead on decimal points.

India remain the top side in the format but the result has seen them lose 10 points and slip to 115 points. (IANS)