India vs West Indies: Virat Kohli to resume battle of one-upmanship with Steve Smith

India skipper Virat Kohli’s numero uno spot in the ICC Test Rankings is being threatened by Australia superstar Steve Smith, who is constantly leaving the world in his awe. While Smith is setting Test cricket on fire in the ongoing edition of Ashes, Kohli will have a chance to consolidate his position as the number one batsman in the longest format when India lock horns against West Indies in a two-match series. The first match is scheduled to be played at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Kohli will hopeful of a similar show which got him the match of the series award in the ODI series.

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Although Kohli and Smith won’t be playing against each other, there race to the top in this particular list will begin on Thursday – the day when India play their first Test against West Indies and Australia take on England in the third Ashes Test. Both superstars of the current generation will look to get the better of each other despite being poles apart geographically.

Since 2015, Kohli is the third-highest run-getter in Test cricket, behind Joe Root and Smith. However, it must be noted that Root has played 113 innings during this period while Smith and Kohli have played 72 and 74 innings respectively.

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Despite playing less number of innings than Root, both Smith and Kohli are ranked above England captain in the list of most centuries scored since 2015. Smith leads the way with 18 tons – two of which came in the first Ashes Test – while Kohli is just two behind the Australian superstar. The third cricketer on this list is India’s middle-order maestro Cheteshwar Pujara.

In the upcoming two-match Test series, Kohli will get his chance to dethrone Smith from the top of this illustrious list. As for Smith, he will look to continue his run-scoring spree despite being on the wrong side of scary bowling of England’s Jofra Archer.

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This race is likely to go down to the wire as Kohli and Smith won’t just be fighting for the top spot in the list of most centuries since 2015 but also who takes the top spot in the ICC Test Rankings. Will be is Kohli, whose consistency seems to be ever-lasting? Or will it be Smith, who is revered these days as the best since ‘The Don’ himself?

1. Virat Kohli 922 pts

2. Steve Smith 913 pts

3. K Williamson 887 pts

4. C PujaraIndia 881 pts

5. Henry Nicholls 770 pts