Virat Kohli: Can he become no. 1 batsman in Test cricket soon?

New Delhi: Virat Kohli, who appears to be a terrific form these days, scored a brilliant 167 and 81 in the Visakhapatnam Test against England, to reach career high fourth ranking in the ICC Test Rankings for batsmen. 

Virat Kohli, who jumped ten places in the latest ICC Test rankings to attain his career best of number four with 822 rating points, has caught the attention of contemporary cricketers who have heaped praise on him ''as someone having the potential to reach the no 1 spot in the Test rankings too very soon.''

By breaching 800-mark for the first time, the India skipper has also triggered a battle with England’s second-ranked Joe Root to be the no 1 as the two prepare for the third Test starting in Mohali on Saturday.

(READ: Virat Kohli's response when Sachin Tendulkar asked him for a drink)
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With 897 rating points, Steve Smith tops the list followed by Joe Root with 844 points. Kane Williamson is the third on the list with (838) points. Indian Test squad skipper Kohli’s 'Man of the Match' winning exploits in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam has catapulted him to the fourth spot in this list which is also his career best ranking. 

Interestingly, this Delhi batsman is ranked no 1 in the rankings of T20 batsmen and no 2 in the ODI rankings. In ODIs, Virat, a former No 1, is ranked second, behind AB de Villiers.

Kohli’s superb knocks of 167 and 81 in the second Test helped him climb into the top-10 – a position he has never held before. 

He also breached the 800 rating points mark for the first time to become the 11th Indian batsman to do so. The second Test scoring helped Kohli earn 97 points and an inch closer to a possible No 1 ranking with the Mohali Test beginning from Saturday, November 26.

Hailing Kohli's aggressive batting style, former cricketer VVS Laxman had said that this lad possesses strong basics and is a complete batsman in all formats of the game.

"The reason I mentioned a lot of Virat (Kohli) is because he knows his strengths and backs them. He is a conventional cricketer and has got strong basis," said Laxman.

"If order to perform consistently in all the three formats, you should have strong basics, which Virat has," he recently said.

Like Laxman, many from the sport believe that Virat Kohli has a long way to go in Test cricket and that he will break all records. 

Kohli's average will be close to where his average currently is in ODIs and T20s, they believe.