India captain Virat Kohli has reached to within one point of top-ranked Steve Smith in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings after his imperious 254 not out in the second Test against South Africa in Pune helped take a winning 2-0 lead in the three match-series.

Kohli, who had dropped below 900 points after the first Test for the first time since January 2018, has reached 936 points, which is only one below his career-best rating points achieved in August 2018. The No. 1 ODI batsman thus has a chance to regain the top spot after the final Test in Ranchi.

Opener Mayank Agarwal continues to rise up the rankings. His innings of 108 has lifted him into the top 20 for the first time. He has progressed eight places to reach 17th position after contributing to India’s victory by an innings and 137 runs.

Ravindra Jadeja is at a career-best 40th position among batsmen while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Umesh Yadav have advanced among bowlers after finishing with six wickets each in Pune. Ashwin has gained three places to reach seventh position while Yadav has moved up six places to 25th, just four below his best of 21st achieved in July 2016.

For South Africa, tail-enders Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj have gained with the bat. Philander has moved up from 92nd to 82nd while Maharaj has advanced from 130th to 115th.

India have gained 40 points in the ICC World Test Championship table after the Ranchi win to reach 200 points. They had won a full 120 points for a 2-0 series win in the West Indies and are in line to double that tally in this series.

The points in the WTC are evenly distributed over the number of matches in a series (two to five), which were decided by the Member countries as per their bilateral agreements. Thus, the points can vary from 60 for each match of a two-Test series to 24 for each match of a five-Test series.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as of 14 October after the India-South Test in Pune):

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts       Avge   Highest Rating

   1        ( - )       Steve Smith      Aus      937      64.56   947 v SA at Durban 2018
   2        ( - )       Virat Kohli         India     936      55.10   937 v Eng at Southampton 2018
   3        ( - )       K Williamson     NZ        878      52.22   915 v Ban at Hamilton 2019
   4        ( - )       C Pujara            India     817      49.83   888 v SL at Nagpur 2017
   5        ( - )       Henry Nicholls   NZ        749      44.25   778 v Ban at Wellington 2019
   6        ( - )       Joe Root           Eng      731      47.91   917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015
   7        (+1)      Tom Latham      NZ        724!     44.03   724 v SL at Colombo (PSS) 2019
   8        (+1)      D Karunaratne   SL        723       36.93   754 v SA at Colombo (SSC) 2018
   9        (+1)      A Rahane          India     721       42.41   825 v NZ at Indore 2016
  10       (-3)       Q de Kock        SA        704       39.15   802 v NZ at Hamilton 2017

Other selected rankings

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts      Avge    Highest Rating

 17        (+8)      M Agarwal         India     657*!    60.50    657 v SA at Pune 2019
 40        (+12)     R Jadeja           India     551!     34.42    551 v SA at Pune 2019
 82        (+10)     V Philander       SA        407      24.16    457 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2017
115       (+15)     K Maharaj         SA        256!     15.25    256 v India at Pune 2019

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts      Avge    Highest Rating

   1        ( - )       Pat Cummins    Aus      908      21.45    914 v Eng at Old Trafford 2019
   2        ( - )       K Rabada         SA        835      22.40    902 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2018
   3        ( - )       J Bumrah          India     818*     19.24    835 v WI at Jamaica 2019
   4        ( - )       J Holder            WI        814!     27.26    814 v India at Jamaica 2019
   5        (+1)      J Anderson       Eng      798      26.94    903 v India at Lord's 2018
   6        (+1)      Trent Boult        NZ        795      27.35    825 v Eng at Lord's 2015
   7        (+3)      R Ashwin          India     792      25.28    904 v Eng at Mumbai 2016
   8        (-3)       V Philander       SA        791      22.16    912 v India at Johannesburg 2013
   9        (-1)       Neil Wagner      NZ        785      27.51    801 v Ban at Wellington 2019
  10       (-1)       Kemar Roach    WI        780!     26.94    780 v India at Jamaica 2019

 Other selected rankings

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts      Avge    Highest Rating

 25        (+6)      Umesh Yadav   India     600      32.33    613 v WI at Hyderabad 2018
114       (+4)      S Muthusamy    SA        25*!     90.00    25 v India at Pune 2019

All-rounders (top five)

Rank    (+/-)      Player              Team      Pts      Highest Rating

   1        ( - )       Jason Holder     WI        472!     472 v India at Jamaica 2019
   2        ( - )       R Jadeja           India     414      438 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017
   3        ( - )       S Al Hasan        Ban      397      489 v Aus at Mirpur 2017
   4        ( - )       Ben Stokes       Eng      387      411 v Aus at Headingley 2019
   5        ( - )       R Ashwin          India     328      492 v Eng at Mohali 2016