Smith retains top spot in rankings

Smith scored 109 during Australia’s second innings to help his team win by 333 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series. 

The 27-year-old right-hander reached a career-high 939 rating points which is the sixth best ever after Don Bradman (961), Len Hutton (945), Jack Hobbs and Ricky Ponting (both 942) and Peter May (941). 

Gary Sobers, Viv Richards and Kumar Sangakkara all had career-high ranking points of 938, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Sunday. 

Smith, who scored 27 and 109 in Pune to gain six points, now leads Indian captain Virat Kohli by 66 points while England batsman Joe Root is 91 points behind him at third place with 848 points. 

In the ICC player rankings for Test bowlers, Australia’s left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe has rocketed up 33 slots to a career-best 29th place after figures of 12 for 70 over two innings which earned him the Player of the Match award. 

O’ Keefe’s figures are the cheapest 12-wicket haul in Test cricket, beating ICC Hall of Famer George Lohmann’s 12 for 71 against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1896. 

India’s Ravichandran Ashwin remains at the top of the bowlers’ rankings with 878 points after taking seven wickets.