Steve Smith reclaims No. 1 Test ranking from Kohli, Bumrah rises to 3rd spot among bowlers
Dubai, Sep 4: India skipper Virat Kohli lost his numero uno status after being toppled by Australia's Steve Smith in the batsman's chart, while Jasprit Bumrah rose to third position among bowlers in the latest ICC Test Rankings released on Tuesday.
Kohli slipped to No.2 spot following his first-ball duck in the Jamaica Test, while Smith returned to the top spot riding on his twin centuries in the first Ashes Test against England and 92 in the second match.
Among others, Ajinkya Rahane returned to top 10, rising four places to No.7, after following up his half-century and hundred in Antigua with another useful fifty in Jamaica.
Hanuma Vihari, described by Kohli as "the find of the series," shot up 40 places to No.30 after just six Tests following a fruitful West Indies tour.
With India beating West Indies by 257 runs in the second Test here on Monday, Kohli registered his 28th Test win from 48 matches, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 27 wins from 60 Tests, to become the country's most successful captain in the longest format.
However, after having made 76 in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies, Kohli made a first-ball duck in the second essay. He is yet to add to his 25 Test hundreds after three Tests this year.
That allowed Smith, who missed the third Test at Headingley, to open up a single-point lead in the latest rankings. He has a chance to extend that lead in the fourth Ashes Test, starting at Manchester on Wednesday.
Smith was on the top spot since December 2015. It was only in August 2018, when he was serving a ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal, that Kohli overtook him after reaching career-high rating points in the series against England.
The Australian No.4 has fought his way back up the charts in his first series back from the ban, making twin centuries in the first Test against England and 92 in the second. He now averages 63.2 in Test cricket.
Kohli's next chance to challenge Smith will be in the home Test series against South Africa, starting on October 2.
In ICC Test rankings for bowlers, Bumrah, who is currently the No.1 ODI bowler, continued his impressive run to climb up to the third spot with a career-best 835 rating points.
Bumrah is now only behind Australia's Pat Cummins and South Africa's Kagiso Rabada.
West Indies skipper Jason Holder, who is already No.1 on the ICC Test rankings for all-rounders, rose seven places to join England's James Anderson at the fourth spot. He picked up six wickets in the second Test, including 5/77 in the first innings.
Among other movers in the bowling chart were India's Mohammed Shami (up one to No.18) and Ishant Sharma (up one to No.20).
Bumrah, who earlier in the series became the fastest Indian to pick up 50 Test wickets, has had an exceptional time in red-ball cricket since his debut in early 2018, racing to 62 wickets in just 12 matches.
In the just-concluded two Tests against the West Indies, Bumrah finished with 13 wickets at a strike rate of 9.23. That included figures of 5/7 in the first Test and a hat-trick in the first innings of the second Test at Sabina Park, Jamaica. India won the series 2-0.
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BJP state chief Vijayendra accuses Cong govt of corruption, Shivakumar hits back
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Accusing the Congress government in Karnataka of rampant corruption, state BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Thursday alleged that the money collected through "loot and by emptying the state's coffers" is being paid to the party high command, to continue in power.
Hitting back, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar called Vijayendra as "king of collection", and held him responsible for "bringing down" his father and former CM B S Yediyurappa's name.
"From the time the Congress government came to power, money has been paid to the party high command through corruption. We have been saying that if the Congress is in power in the state, it will turn into an ATM for their high command. Hundreds of crores were misappropriated in Valmiki ST Development Corporation. After that, one scam after the other is taking place," Vijayendra said.
Speaking to reporters here, the state BJP chief alleged that to satisfy the Congress high command, money is being collected from contractors. "You may be aware that the state contractors' association had also written a letter alleging commission."
"No development works are happening in this government, other than corruption.....for those who want to loot, rich or poor doesn't matter. Continuing in power by satisfying the Congress high command, looting the state and emptying its coffers, is the only thing that is happening in this government," Vijayendra claimed.
Reacting to the allegations, Shivakumar said Vijayendra lacks experience, and challenged him to speak in the Assembly as to which coffer is empty.
"Which coffer is empty? He should say, let him come and speak in the Assembly, instead of running away somewhere. Let him come to the Assembly here and speak about which coffer, what collection? Should I reveal their collections, accounts and transfers? I too know what to speak. He should speak whatever he has to, within his limits as the party president," he told reporters.
"If there is any king for collections, it is Vijayendra. He is responsible for bringing down his father's name," he alleged.
Speaking about the legislature session and the discussions that have happened so far, Vijayendra said that he had no expectations about getting solutions to the issues raised from the "outgoing CM".
"You will have to understand the situation of the chief minister (Siddaramaiah), who is an outgoing chief minister. No one knows when he will resign. Listening to the way in which the CM is speaking, anyone will naturally feel that -- let it be, how long will he be there in the post?" he said.
Further noting that how long will one be in the CM chair is not important, but what work he does while in the post is important, he said, "some had hopes, as this may be Siddaramaiah's last session (as CM)....but, when he has not done any development work for the last 2.5 years, what will he do now in two weeks?"
Terming the allegations of usurping 21.16 acres of land against Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda in Kolar district as "serious", Vijayendra said, the matter will be raised during the session.
"....can illegality happen or be allowed in the guise of ancestral property? Is it permitted under law? It is a serious matter," he said.
Responding to a question on extending the session for one more week, the state BJP chief said the Leader of Opposition R Ashoka had written to the Speaker regarding this, but as per his knowledge, there has been no positive response so far.
The winter session of the state legislature, which began on December 8, is scheduled to conclude on December 19.
