Kohli to receive Test Mace for second consecutive year

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday will present the ‘ICC Test Championship Mace’ to India captain Virat Kohli at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town after the end of the third and final T20 International against South Africa.

Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday will present the ‘ICC Test Championship Mace’ to India captain Virat Kohli at the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town after the end of the third and final T20 International against South Africa.

Despite losing the three-match Test series 2-1, a dramatic 63-run victory over South Africa in the final Test at Wanderers in Johannesburg ensured India the number one spot on the ICC Test Team Rankings and no team can move ahead of India in the Test rankings at the 3 April cut-off date.

India has retained the ICC Test Championship mace for the second successive year and will also receive a prize of USD 1 million.

On behalf of the ICC, ICC Cricket Hall of Famers Sunil Gavaskar and Graeme Pollock of South Africa will make the presentation immediately after the awards ceremony for the T20I series.

This is the fourth time that India will be presented with the prestigious mace. They previously won it in 2010 and 2011 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni before Virat Kohli became the 10th captain to get his hands on it in October 2016.

South Africa ended the recent Test series with 115 points, as against India’s 121, and even a 4-0 win over Australia in the upcoming four-match Test series, which starts on 1 March, will not help them overtake the Indians on the rankings chart.