In the latest update to the ICC Test rankings, India batter Virat Kohli continued to slide, this time to a 12-year low while Australia seamer Scott Boland had a dramatic rise to a career high.
Since the last update to the rankings, three New Year's Tests have taken place – Australia v India in Sydney, South Africa v Pakistan in Cape Town and Zimbabwe v Afghanistan in Bulawayo.
The most high-profile match of the three was the one at the SCG, which Australia won to beat India 3-1 in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy to lift it for the first time since 2014-15.
India star Virat Kohli made 17 & 6 in Sydney, bringing the curtain down on another disappointing series. These performances have caused him to continue his descent down the rankings – Kohli is now ranked 27th in the world, his lowest since December 2012 (36th) when he was barely a year old in Test cricket. That was also the last time Kohli was placed outside the top 25 Test batters in the world.
One player who saw a sharp rise in the rankings was Australian pacer Scott Boland, who tormented Kohli Down Under, dismissing him four times in the series including twice in Sydney. Boland jumped a massive 222 rating points, and 29 places to move into joint-9th among bowlers – a career-high. Boland's previous peak came when he was ranked 36th in the world in June 2023.
Bavuma, Jansen hit career-highs
South African skipper Temba Bavuma excelled with the bat against Pakistan, scoring 106 in the first innings in Cape Town as his side secured a 10-wicket victory, his eighth in nine matches as captain to set a 74-year record. Bavuma moved up to 6th in the batting rankings, a spot he has previously occupied in December 2024, and achieved a career-high rating of 769 points.
Meanwhile, Bavuma's teammate Marco Jansen moved up to 2nd in the all-rounder rankings with a personal best of 294 rating points, following his contributions of 62*, 1-36 and 2-101 against Pakistan.
Pakistan's Babar Azam (12th) and India's Rishabh Pant (9th) also made gains of five and three spots respectively in the batting rankings.
Latest ICC Test rankings
Batters
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating |
| 1 | Joe Root | England | 895 |
| 2 | Harry Brook | England | 876 |
| 3 | Kane Williamson | New Zealand | 867 |
| 4 | Yashasvi Jaiswal | India | 847 |
| 5 | Travis Head | Australia | 772 |
Bowlers
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating |
| 1 | Jasprit Bumrah | India | 908 |
| 2 | Pat Cummins | Australia | 841 |
| 3 | Kagiso Rabada | South Africa | 837 |
| 4 | Josh Hazlewood | Australia | 835 |
| 5 | Marco Jansen | South Africa | 785 |
All-rounders
| Rank | Player | Country | Rating |
| 1 | Ravindra Jadeja | India | 400 |
| 2 | Marco Jansen | South Africa | 294 |
| 3 | Mehidy Hasan Miraz | Bangladesh | 284 |
| 4 | Pat Cummins | Australia | 282 |
| 5 | Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 263 |
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