Alastair Cook looks set to knock Virat Kohli out of top 5 in ICC Test Rankings

New Delhi: Former England skipper Alastair Cook bagged a magnificent double century for England in the first day-night Test match against West Indies to achieve his highest rankings in three years. 

Cook scored 243 runs in an innings against Windies to move to sixth place in the latest standings for batsmen released by the ICC. 

Cook has gained 6 points to achieve his best rankings in the last 3 years after previously being in fifth place in March 2013. 

The England opener, who achieved a career-high second place in September 2011, now has Virat Kohli firmly within his sights and presently sits just eight points behind the India captain.

Presently, the Indian skipper is the only batsman to feature in top 5 of ICC rankings across all formats.

England captain Joe Root also to be making the best of West Indies arrival as he returned to the 900-point mark following his 13th career century. For scoring 136, Root received 14 points, which has taken him to 905 points – 36 behind Australia captain Steve Smith, who will defend his number-one ranking in the upcoming two-Test series against Bangladesh.

Here are the top 10 rankings for batsmen in Tests:

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

   1           ( - )          Steve Smith          Aus         941       61.05     941 v Ind at Dharamsala 2017

   2           ( - )          Joe Root                Eng         905         54.07     917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

   3           ( - )          Kane Williamson NZ           880         51.16     893 v Aus at Perth 2015

   4           ( - )          C. Pujara               Ind          876         52.65     888 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2017

   5           ( - )          Virat Kohli             Ind          806         49.55     895 v Ban at Hyderabad 2017

   6           (+6)         Alastair Cook        Eng         798         46.83     874 v Ind at Kolkata 2012

   7           ( - )          Azhar Ali                Pak         769         46.86     787 v Aus at Melbourne 2016

   8           ( - )          Hashim Amla       SA           764         49.00     907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

   9           ( - )          Lokesh Rahul       Ind          761*     46.27     761 v SL at Pallekele 2017

  10         ( - )          Ajinkya Rahane   Ind          760         47.61     825 v NZ at Indore 2016

Kohli sits at number 5 spot with 806 points while Cook is surging ahead quickly. Though he had a decent Test series against Sri Lanka, but he could not manage more than a century and now will be looking to further rise in the standings in the upcoming tours