Hazlewood breaks into top five, Kohli narrows gap at the top with Steven Smith

JOSH Hazlewood has climbed to the fifth spot in the ICC Test bowling rankings following his astonishing 5 for 8 against India in the second innings of the day-night Test in Adelaide, which Australia won by eight wickets. This is the first time since March 2018 that Hazlewood has been among the top of five Test bowlers in the world.
Hazlewood was at No. 9 before the start of the Test. After the Adelaide Test, he jumped four slots to reach 805 points.
Pat Cummins, who picked up seven wickets in the match, continued to head the table with 910 points. His gain of six rating points opened up a 65-point gap between him and second-ranked Stuart Broad (845).

For India, R Ashwin took four wickets in the first innings to become India’s top-ranked Test bowler, going past Jasprit Bumrah. Currently at the ninth spot, Ashwin was the only spinner in the top ten. Among batsmen, Marnus Labuschagne’s 47 and 6 helped him achieve his best-ever rating – he was at No. 4 with 839 points. Virat Kohli, who ended the year without an international hundred – for the first time since 2008 – gained two points courtesy his 74 in the first innings.
This, and a rare failure for Smith (1 and 1*) that saw him lose ten rating points, narrowed the gap somewhat between the two at the top. However, Smith still has a lead of 23 over Kohli, who wouldn’t be playing a part in the rest of the series as he returns home for the birth of his first child.
In other significant movements, Tim Paine’s unbeaten 73 lifted him to a career-best 33rd place, while Joe Burns’ unbeaten 51 in the second innings helped him to the 48th spot.