Williamson jumps Smith, Kohli to be world's top Test batter

Steve Smith's reign as the world's top-ranked Test batsman is over after Kane Williamson claimed the No.1 spot.

Smith's uncharacteristically poor start to the summer has seen him drop to No.3 in the rankings, having scored just 10 runs at 3.33 in the first two Vodafone Tests against India.

Aside from during his 12-month ban, it marks the first time Smith has dropped out of the world's top two since way back in November 2015.

He has been in the top spot since February, having held it when cricket was shut down by the pandemic.

Smith has this week spoken about the challenges of hub life, having lived in cricket's COVID-safe bubble since August.

But his biggest craving remains time in the middle.

He has faced just 68 balls in the first two Tests of this summer, after no red or pink-ball cricket since January.

Smith has been caught around the bat on the leg-side twice in his three dismissals and bowled leg stump on the other occasion, with Australia confident it's a tactical and not technical issue.

"It's more about the method now," assistant coach Andrew McDonald said.

"He's working hard. He's clearly hitting the ball well.

"Technically (both Smith and Marnus Labuschagne) are ready to go.

"It's about how they are going to score their runs and how they're going to combat these tactics from Indian bowlers and captains.

"There's a challenge there for Steve to rebound, the world's best players usually rebound and I think he's in a really good space to perform come Sydney."

Williamson is the first player outside of Smith and Virat Kohli to have the top spot in the rankings since the New Zealander held it briefly in 2015.

He earned his way there with 129 against Pakistan after hitting a double-century against the West Indies earlier in December.

Pat Cummins remains the world's top-ranked bowler after holding the position since August 2019, while Mitchell Starc has returned to his career-best mark of fifth and Josh Hazlewood is eighth.

Vodafone Test Series v India 2020-21

Australia Test squad: Tim Paine (c), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner

India Test squad: Virat Kohli (c) (first Test only), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: India won by eight wickets

Third Test: January 7-11, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Fourth Test: January 15-19, Gabba, 11am AEDT