Dubai, Jan 3: India's batting talisman Virat Kohli started the new year on a good note as he re-entered the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings, climbing to ninth position, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the latest ranking update on Wednesday.

"Former India captain Virat Kohli has returned to the top 10 of the ICC Men's Test Player Rankings while South Africa opener Dean Elgar has made a huge jump after his Player of the Match effort in the first Test of the two-match ICC World Test Championship series in Centurion, which the home side won by an innings and 32 runs to take a 1-0 lead," ICC announced in a official statement.

Kohli, a previous top-ranked batter who fell out of the top 10 in mid-2022, has moved up four spots to ninth place with scores of 38 and 76, but is still 103 rating points behind top-ranked Kane Williamson of New Zealand (864 points). Joe Root comes in second with 859 rating points, while Steve Smith comes in third with 820.

Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma dropped four places to 14th position in the Test rankings. On the other side, South African veteran Dean Elgar is certain to retire as a top-20 batter after his efforts in the first Test in Centurion, jumping 19 places to 17th (680) ahead of his last appearance.

Following his comeback to Test cricket, Jasprit Bumrah re-entered the bowlers rankings, finishing fifth (767), just behind compatriot Ravindra Jadeja (774). Marco Jansen's efforts resulted in a three-place climb to 22nd (618), but a five-place jump to 8th in the all-rounder standings, with a career-best rating of 268.

The latest weekly update also considers performances in the second Test between Australia and Pakistan. Australia's Marnus Labuschagne has risen one spot to seventh after scoring a half-century in the first innings, while Alex Carey (up four places to 41st) and Mitchel Marsh (up 16 places to 52nd) have also risen.

Pakistan hitters Saud Shakeel (up one spot to 13th), Abdullah Shafique (up three spots to 21st), and Mohammed Rizwan (up four spots to 27th) advanced following the Melbourne Test, which Australia won by 79 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

With the bat, Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran jumped 14 spots to 33rd after a half-century earlier in the week.

(ANI)

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