'Surprising and humbling' to surpass Kohli, Smith: Williamson after becoming World No. 1 Test batsman

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson became the World No. 1 Test batsman in the latest ICC Rankings on Thursday and he said it was "surprising and humbling" to surpass Virat Kohli and Steven Smith to the feat.

Williamson, who jumped two places to notch the top spot, gained 13 points after his match-winning knock in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, and went 11 points clear of second-placed Kohli and 13 ahead of Smith at No. 3.

In 2015, Williamson was the World No. 1 Test batsman for a brief time, but since then, it has only been with Kohli or Smith at the top of the Test rankings. In 2020, Smith held the top spot for 313 days, Kohli for 51 days before Williamson beat the duo to end the year as the top-ranked Test batsman.

"It's about trying to do as much as you can for the team. If you can contribute as much as you can and it can be reflected on the rankings, that's really cool. Those two (Virat Kohli and Steve Smith) players are the best. For me, sneak up ahead of someone (like them) is very surprising and humbling. Those are the two players year and year out in all formats moving the game forward, very fortunate to play against these guys," Williamson said in a video posted on ICC's official Twitter handle.

Smith lost his top spot because of his latest string of poor scores. In his previous four innings, the former Australian skipper scored only 10 runs. Earlier, Smith was named the ICC Test Player of the Decade for his incredible contribution with the bat in the longest format. Smith scored over 7,000 runs in the last 10 years at an average of 65.79, including 26 centuries and 28 fifties.

Reacting to the honour, Smith wrote on Twitter," Humbled to be named Test player of the decade. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my career so far. I've had a lot of fun, faced many challenges, learnt so much and now I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store for me."

Three Boxing Day Tests were played around the globe: India vs Australia, New Zealand vs Pakistan, and South Africa vs Sri Lanka. India, South Africa, and New Zealand won their respective matches.

The Boxing Day Test between New Zealand and Pakistan could have ended in a draw had the visitors not collapsed. Speaking about New Zealand's 101-run win against Pakistan at Bay Oval, Williamson acknowledged the fight put in by Pakistan.

"It was a great game to be involved in. We seem to have many tight finishes against Pakistan. The last three have gone to the last 25 minutes of the last day. Both teams fought incredibly hard. I think we had moments although the resistance put up by Pakistan on the last day was incredibly strong. It is really exciting to cross the line and hunt for an opportunity for the World Test Championship," the Kiwi captain added.