Australia Vice-Captain Steve Smith has become Numero Uno in the ICC Test rankings 2015. The deputy is 23rd Australian Cricketer to become so and the only Australian who has achieved the feat after Michael Clarke in 2012. He also became the second youngest lad to top the chart after Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar.
It has been a dramatic rise for Smith, who, at 26 years and 12 days, is only a few months behind Tendulkar, who had topped the batting chart for the first time in 1999 at the age of 25 years and 279 days.
Smith’s maverick performance help Aussies won the final test by a huge 277 runs against West Indies in Jamaica and thus the series by 2-0. He scores five hundreds in his last six games to his credit. Indian Skipper Virat Kohli was thrown out of top 10 and stood at 11th position while Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay recorded their career best positions. Vijay rose up three positions and secured 20th. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan tremendously moved 15 positions and placed at 45th.
In the bowlers' chart, Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan have gained one place each and are now 12th and 16th, respectively.
- Manohar
