5 Batsmen who ruled No.1 Test ranking for many years

Steve Smith (2015-2018, 2019)

The way Steve Smith is batting and piling up the runs, it looks nearly impossible to stop him. There are a lot of comparisons with Sir Don Bradman and in fact, many term him the second-best ever in Test cricket after Bradman. His Test average of 64.56 certainly suggests so.

Smith has been in smashing form over the last few years in the longest format. His juggernaut started in 2014 where he averaged 81.86 while amassing 1146 in just nine Tests (17 innings). Since then, he’s gone through three more calendar years where he’s scored in excess of 1000 runs. Between 2014 and 2018, the former Aussie skipper smashed 21 Test hundreds. In fact, he never averaged anything less than 71 in the four calendar years (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017).

It was in 2015 when he ascended to the top as he overtook AB de Villiers to that position. Smith held the numero uno for long before a 12-month ban kept him out of Test cricket. However, in just a couple of Test matches after his ban, he was back to ruling at the top of the ICC rankings overtaking his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli. He’s had a fabulous Ashes and has scored runs everywhere.