ICC test batting rankings: Virat Kohli drops out of top 20 for the first time since 2014 after horror show vs NZ

Virat Kohli managed only 93 runs in three tests against New Zealand.

The Indian players continue to sustain the aftershocks of their shocking home test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand as superstar batsman Virat Kohli has suffered a huge dip in the latest ICC test batting rankings.

While his premier three contemporaries, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith, continue to hold their positions in the top five, Kohli has dropped out of the top 20 in the ICC test batting rankings for the first time since 2014.

This is a result of his dismal batting shows against New Zealand in the recent series, where he managed only 93 runs in six innings at an average of just 15. He had a best score of 70, which means in the rest of the five innings, he managed only 23 runs!

Such kind of a horror series from Kohli was reminiscent of his disastrous 2014 tour of England where he kept edging the England pacers and struggled to buy a run.

But now Kohli is a much more experienced batsman and is a senior player in the side. So having a kind of series that he had against the Kiwis, getting out constantly to spinners in home conditions, was nothing short of shocking.

Indeed, his poor rut in test cricket in 2024 – average of 22 in six tests with just one fifty – has reflected in his ouster from the top 20 ICC test batsmen.

Rishabh Pant moves five spots up

While Kohli has gone eight places down, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has moved up five spots in the latest ICC test batsmen rankings, courtesy of his twin fifties in the third test in Mumbai.

While most other Indian batsmen failed, Pant cracked scores of 60 and 64 to keep India alive in the match that they eventually lost by only 25 runs. He also had a score of 99 in Bengaluru.

Pant moved up to the sixth spot, which is just one position shy from his career-best fifth spot that he had attained before his car accident. Pant was the only Indian batsman who scored over 200 runs in this series.

ICC Men’s test batting rankings:

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.