New Zealand captain Kane Williamson took first place in the ICC Men’s Trials Ranking for hitters on Thursday. He edged out Indian captain Virat Kohli and Australian hitter Steve Smith to accomplish this feat.
Williamson became Test No. 1 after his spectacular 129-run hit against Pakistan in the opening innings of Test 1 at the Bay Oval. He earned 13 rating points for his effort of 129 and 21 to be 11 points ahead of Kohli and 13 ahead of Smith.
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Following this achievement, the Kiwi skipper said that he was just trying to do what was best for his team, which was reflected in the rankings.
“It’s about trying to do everything possible for the team. If you can contribute as much as you can and it can be reflected in the rankings, that’s really great, ”said Williamson in a video posted on ICC’s official Twitter account.
Willamson briefly held first place towards the end of 2015, but either Smith or Kohli have been number one ever since. This year too, Smith was at the top for 313 days and Kohli for 51, before Williamson got ahead of him.
“Those two players (Virat Kohli and Steve Smith) are the best. For me, sneaking up on someone (like them) is very surprising and humbling. Those are the two players year after year in all formats that move the game forward, very lucky to play against these guys, “Willaimson said.
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“It was a great game to participate in. We seem to have a lot of tight finishes against Pakistan. The last three have gone into the last 25 minutes of the last day. Both teams fought incredibly hard. I think we had moments, although the resistance from Pakistan on the last day was incredibly strong. It’s really exciting to cross the line and look for a World Test Championship opportunity, ”he added.
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